Quis sum? Quis esse volo? Quis esse vis?
by Kamuel
Summary: Noctis, Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus are on the run from the Niflheim invaders, who have stolen the Crystal of the Lucis Kingdom and who are responsible for King Regis Lucis Caelum's death. Now Prince Noctis is on a journey on revenge, to not only find and get the Crystal of his Kingdom back, but to also find himself as a human being and his place in this now God forsaken world.
1. Awakening-Noctis POV

**Quis sum? - Quis esse volo? - Quis esse vis?**

(Who am I? - Who do I want to be? - Who do you want to be?)

a Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae inspired fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy XV and the characters therein are copyright and owned by Square Enix. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. This work is the intellectual property of the author, is available and intended solely for the enjoyment of mature readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.

**Genre:** yaoi, romance, fantasy/sci-fi, psychological/supernatural  
**Pairings:** Noctis/Prompto, later in the story slight Ravus/Noctis (Gladio/Cidney, Ignis/Gentiana - each relationship being only mentioned)  
**Warnings:** slash (Rating M), mild language

**Summary:** Noctis, Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus are on the run from the Niflheim invaders, who have stolen the Crystal of the Lucis Kingdom and who are responsible for King Regis Lucis Caelum's death. Now, Prince Noctis is on a journey of revenge, to not only get the Crystal and reclaim his Kingdom back, but to also find himself as a human being and his place in this from God forsaken world. When his soulmate awakens to inherit his own, profound powers, their fates are tangled even tighter than they had ever thought to be possible.

**Comment by author:** Hey dear readers! _This is the very first story I have ever written._ After playing the terrific Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae demo, I thought, there were not enough fanfics for this game and now I would like to contribute some to this fandom. Yes, even when the game is far from completion and even when we do not know enough of the story and the characters roles therein. Be as it may, it's a lot of fun to think up and implement my own ideas on "paper" around those gorgeous characters, so at least I hope to make some of you happy with my works! I myself am a FF XIII Versus fanatic ever since the very first trailer had been shown in the year 2006, and finally I did get my hands on something substantial! Playing the demo felt like a dream come true and I can't wait for the full game to come out (hopefully sometime next year).

Enjoy! I would love to hear your feedback, please be so kind and tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what I could do better next time or what you would like to see/read in the next chapters :)!

**P.S.: English is not my first language**, so please be not too strict about grammatical errors. With my future stories I thrive to improve my writing and language skills. Thank you in advance for your kind support.

~ KAMUEL

* * *

**Chapter One - Awakening - Noctis POV**

**...**

I slowly open my sleepy eyes to find myself looking at a familiar hand in front of me. Fingertips tickle lightly the sensitive skin under my chin and my tired gaze follows the length of the outstretched arm, pausing to look at the face while trying to figure out to whom those cheeky fingers belong to.

It's completely dark in our tent and yet, the powers that reside inside of me since birth do allow me to see beyond the normal human spectrum of light. I find the sight before me hilarious and instantly I can feel the corners of my lips move upwards.

Prompto's mouth is wide open, snoring slightly on irregular intervals and lying on the tent's ground with his face turned in my direction. A sight which invokes an immediate urge to let out a chuckle, but I probably should hold it back because I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for waking everyone up. After the stressful ordeals of the past week, my childhood friends deserve the best sleep that they can get...

So I take this opportunity to let my gaze slowly wander over my best friend's relaxed face, never getting tired of memorizing all of his imperfections and freckles adorning his skin.

Then, slowly, my gaze wanders lazily further down, and I have to raise my eyebrow in a sudden recognition of the material that is squished tightly to his chest. A soft smile appears on my lips as I shake my head in amusement. Prompto seems to be drooling on a shirt, the dark fabric crumpled up as he clutches the material firmly against him.

Heh, so he managed to steal my shirt back from Ignis on the evening before, once again. Clearly it's now too late to rescue the rumpled shirt from this big teddy bear anyway. This time I can't hold back the soft chuckle from escaping and I hope against hope that it's not loud enough to alert my sleeping mates around me.

The thing is, I can't exactly remember when all of this started. I guess it was a few weeks ago, when Prompto suddenly began his nightly ritual to cuddle with my worn shirts, and I probably should find the fact of him doing something weird like this slightly disturbing. But, the strange thing is, I don't mind. A guy cuddling during sleep with a shirt belonging to another guy isn't normal by any standards, but I've experienced a whole lot of strange things during my life, so, I do what I always do and just shrug this funny quirk of his off. If my shirts help him to sleep better, then who am I to stop him from stealing my laundry each and every day? We're best friends, right? As long as he doesn't cuddle with my underpants, all is well.

Letting out a small snort at my last thought, I place my arm under my head to make myself comfortable on the tent's ground, well, as comfortable as one can get under such circumstances, and then I continue to watch Prompto's funny face fondly. There are moments, where I'm terribly sleepy, fighting to keep my eyes open just to watch him sleep. At other times, like tonight, I find myself completely awake, catching myself yet again as I continue to watch him sleep. So in a way, one could say I do some very strange things in return. This weird obsession of mine repeats each and every single night, ever since he and I sleep in close proximity for the past few weeks.

I don't even know why I feel compelled to do this, it's only now that I start to question my unusual behavior.

Somehow, the sight of Prompto sleeping, his close presence at my side, always manages to calm me down. I often wish that I could sleep at night as tightly as he does.

What does it feel like to wake up well-rested?

My body tonight is beyond tired, muscles and bones protesting from over-using my strength and magical resources, but my restless mind just doesn't allow me to rest. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I have this inkling that there is something inside of me which doesn't allow me to get a whole night of restful sleep. This inkling has only grown since the day I've been outside of Insomnia. Just another anomaly to add to the list of anomalies in my quite complicated life.

With my inability to sleep tight, forcing myself to go back to sleep now, especially when all those conflicting emotions rumble nonstop inside of me, would only backfire and bring up some terrible nightmares, just as past experiences in my early childhood have shown me so far.

The only thing that I can do for now is to lay awake. Wide awake. Estimated to last for several hours, and for the usual, uneasy slumber to claim me only shortly before the sun goes up. The same procedure as yesterday, as the day before, and as the months prior, and pretty much ever since I can walk and talk.

Insomnia, the city where I was born. Sometimes I can't help but wonder at the ironic name the Capital of Lucis bears. Surely there must be a hidden connection somewhere, between my inability to sleep deep and my ancestry, my fore bearers, who once upon a time had chosen to name my birthplace 'Insomnia'. A mere coincidence? I don't think so.

Well, poor me, here I am. I've turned into an incurable insomniac. My nights are spent mostly having sleepy, bulgy eyes, while staring either at a boring wall to let my muddled thoughts wander aimlessly, or enjoying a staring contest with the ceiling once in a while, trying to come up with some entertaining daydreams. To relieve me of my severe boredom, I sometimes like to change the scenery, so I usually turn around on my side to take a look outside of my window. A luxury I obviously can't afford right now. One can only imagine how ready I feel to claw my own eyes out.

Alas, as there are no windows installed inside of our tent tonight, I have one last, and perhaps the most favorite, entertaining option left.

To watch Prompto's handsome sleeping face...

I just don't know what in the world is happening to me these days, this curious fascination I have with my childhood friend recently. The closer I look for some enlightening answers, even more strange feelings resurface from within whenever my mind is occupied with various thoughts of him. I just don't understand where all those fluttering emotions suddenly come from... and I somehow fear to learn their true meaning, something which might tie into the theme of my dreams that haunt me lately.

Before I woke up, I had one of those mysterious dreams again. It's been years since I've had any kind of dreams that don't fit into the nightmare category. Guess, the events of the past few weeks have shaken my subconscious mind up pretty badly. Even if I don't remember any major details now that I'm wide awake, a fleeting pang of sorrow, a fierce longing squeezes my heart in a bittersweet, painful way.

I dreamed of this person again, the face always blurry, who calls desperately for my name. I tug at those warm hands which hold my own tightly, wishing nothing more than for us to stay alive. But this person, he repeats the same words over and over. He shouts '_I'll protect you! Run to safety, run!_', and then, the person pushes me forcefully out of the way. In my dream, I'm terribly afraid to let go of his hand, because there is this imminent knowledge that he won't make it alive. Before I can even get a small, detailed glimpse of his face, I always wake up, drenched in cold sweat from terror.

Whenever I think of him, my heart races a thousand miles. The area around it feels as if it's squeezed tightly in a loving but yearning embrace with this person. There is such a strong connection to him. Meanwhile, I want so badly this bond to become real...

How is it possible to miss somebody that much? How is it possible to miss someone you know from the inside out, but you have never met before?

Who is he? Why does he feel so familiar? Are those dreams distant memories perhaps? A past life, or alternate timeline?

I run the palm of my hand over my chest to caress over my aching heart in hopes to ease those intense feelings. Ever since the very first dream I had about him, I feel for this person so strongly, something I've never felt for anyone before. It feels somewhat terrifying in its strength and potency.

Eos, this drives me mad. At this point I feel like I'm already a lost cause. I yearn, crave and long to meet the person from my dreams with all my might, hoping that he won't be only a figment of my own, frenzied imagination. Eos only knows, I've experienced a lot of negative things lately, which might have messed with my mind a lot.

In those dreams, this person obviously saves my life each time. I can't express often enough how sick I am of the fact that everyone takes risks to protect me, to save me. So many people dear to me died already because of me.

It's for that reason that I need to become stronger.

Never again will I run away to save myself like I did a few weeks ago.

Never again.

My eyes wander fondly over the figures lying asleep beside me. I can't help but let out a determined sigh as I raise my hands up to rub the weariness out from my exhausted face. Balling my hands into fists, I swear to myself this night once again to grow stronger, to protect everyone, to become the King everyone expects me to be and beyond.

To me, my friend's lives are more important than my own.

Taking a shaky breath, I roll over to lie on my back, groaning slightly as I stretch my entire body on the thin mattress under me. Damn, how I miss my comfortable bed! Sleeping night after night on the ground slowly kills my back. Heck, it's killing us all before any dangerous creature lurking outside of these flimsy walls stands even a chance to ever sneer at us. I can't help it, this thought is amusing and I snort silently to myself.

While looking up at the tent ceiling, I start to daydream again, letting my thoughts wander to our current situation.

My childhood friends and myself are, one could say, in a pinch. A certain blond someone had to wreck our car a week ago. Don't ask me for any details as I was asleep at the crucial time when this famous mishap happened. Even the culprit himself has absolutely no clue how he managed to do what he did. Ignis had been absolutely certain, that sabotage is not on Prompto's list of skills. Well, let's just say I believe him.

Because we are on the run, and I sadly don't have any access to my inheritance that my father left me with, we need to collect a fair amount of money for car repair. At least this situation gives us something to do, giving us time to plan carefully our next step, and it gives us time to heal and to mourn the people that we have lost...

Eos, I tried not to think about it, and yet I do it again. The invasion of the Niflheim Empire still too strong in the forefront of my mind.

I would love nothing more than to pay Niflheim the visit they truly deserve. After ruining our Kingdom, terrorizing and killing our innocent people, stealing the Crystal and daring to murder my father...

A stab of sharp pain rushes through my heart and I squeeze the thin mattress under me until the knuckles of my hands start hurting.

Whenever I think of it, there is this unquenchable thirst for revenge, an untamable rage wreaking havoc inside of me.

I seek justice.

Yet, at the same time, I have to agree with Ignis to be patient. I'm not ready, I need to get stronger first. Now, almost three weeks later since the invasion happened, I have finally somewhat calmed down. The loss and the destruction of our home still hurts like hell, but at least I'm calm enough to plan ahead. Now I can see millions of ways to pay our enemies back. My own pain will be nothing compared to what all those mad people will suffer at my hands.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, desperate to not let any new tears appear behind my closed eyelids. I've cried enough, I've mourned enough. Now the time has come to search for answers, to look for solutions, to get stronger and to prepare to claim our home back.

Heaving a tired sigh, I wait for sleep to finally take me over, all the while listening to the soft breathing sounds of what I would call my closest family. They are everything I have left, their presence and support giving me tremendous hope and strength. Without them, I sincerely doubt that I'd still be alive today.

I feel forever grateful, from the bottom of my heart, to have my childhood friends here by my side.

**...**

In the morning I wake up to the dreadful sound of the alarm.

How deeply I loathe hearing this horrible tone...

Listening to this every damn morning feels like suffering diarrhea, or constipation, or preferably both at the same time. I imagine birth pangs to be more forgiving than having to listen to this high pitched beeping every day.

I roll over with a heavy grunt as far into the soft wall as possible, pretending to be asleep. I entertain my weary brain with tempting images of wrecking Ignis' smartphone. Like, throwing it with all my might against a stone wall with a satisfying loud crash, or smashing it gleefully apart with my boots, or letting the annoying device coincidentally slip between my fingers straight into the cold and deep sea outside. I'd thoroughly enjoy the view as the cute, massive Garula creatures stomp this awful invention into billions and trillions of pieces, and then, I'll-

A hand comes down to shake my shoulder suddenly, interrupting my sinful thoughts about a certain smartphone. I hear Prompto chuckling out loud at my pathetic whine to let me sleep just a little bit longer.

But then, Ignis opens up the tent, inevitably letting the first, blinding sunshine rays inside, and I hide my face with my arm in a futile attempt to block off the light. As every morning, I can hear Ignis and Prompto leaving the tent first, while Gladio pulls on my arm forcefully to make me sit up. With a huge yawn, I resist him, even if I know, sooner rather than later, that I'll have to resign to my horrible fate.

So I force my body into a somewhat sitting position. With eyelids that are more closed than open, I stare straight ahead at my feet, and I wonder briefly why in the world they won't respond to my forceful thoughts of standing up.

My eyes drift shut again, my body growing heavy with sleep, and I think I must have fallen asleep again for a few long minutes, because Prompto's pleasant smelling aftershave reaches my nose even before he shows up from the left side to give some godawful, teasing slaps to my still dog-tired face. Yesterday, and if I remember correctly this happened on the day before as well, I already got a handful dose of daring slaps against my cheek from Prompto. What's up with those, did he suddenly turn himself into a sadist over night?

"Come on Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine!" He laughs out loud, successfully avoiding my annoyed punch aimed at his chest.

"I dare you to call me that one more time, Prompto," is all that I can grunt back, the uttered warning sounding much fonder in my ears than I had anticipated. I utterly despise being called Sleeping Beauty, really.

Prompto just laughs cheekily, and I swear, would it be anyone else besides my mates doing such stunts, I would tell them to go fuck themselves several times over. It's crude, I know. But even the Prince of Lucis needs some improper words to express his raw emotions sometimes. Not that I've ever dared to utter those words outside the circle of my closest friends.

"Maybe I should I kiss you awake?" He sing-songs teasingly next to my ear.

My eyes are still closed, but I imagine Prompto grinning widely as he imitates some embarrassing kissing sounds straight into my ear, and by Eos, it's equally embarrassing how I'm not able to hold off the involuntary shudder that travels down my body. Before I can stop myself, I already can feel my body levitating further and further to his side, but thank Eos, he already moves out of my reach to go outside.

For now I decide to ignore, once again, my strange reaction to Prompto's teasing, and then I hear him call, louder than usual, "Aaah! What a great morning! Noct, come on, you need to see this!"

I think to myself, yeah Prompto, please go ahead and show the Behemoth where his exquisite tasting breakfast has its hideout. It's like he almost has a death wish, almost.

Ignis seems to agree with him just as cheerfully, which by the way is very unusual for him, "Indeed it is. Let's eat something first, and after, we shall track down the trails of the Behemoth, the path we discovered yesterday must lead to his hidden lair. We probably should take this opportunity to train and polish our skills some more before we can even think of being ready to confront the giant cat."

Gladio pumps his fists together, calling for me, "All right! Noct, did you hear that? Get your pretty ass out here!"

The only thing left to do for me, after hearing my friends talk and call for me, is to sigh in a very, very miserable way. My fingers dig into the thin mattress below, the very last line of my defense, really, because I'm so close to just let myself fall back on it, no matter how uncomfortable, and to just flirt shamelessly once more with sleep.

"Come on Noct! You can sleep once we have our car back, we have a lot to catch up today," Gladio, best bodyguard and training partner that I could ever wish for, comes over to give me his signature manly slap on my back, and I feel like having my eyeballs slapped out of my skull. Funnily enough, this seems to finally do the trick and my feet are following my forceful command to stand up.

Eos, this is such a torture... why me?

It still takes me a few long and painful minutes to drag myself out of the tent, but once outside, I breathe in the fabulous fresh air, my eyes trying to adapt to the bright sunlight. I stretch my back and legs a few times, and then I let my eyes leisurely roam over the stunning landscape (over which I won't think to ever grow bored admiring), and then I look further to my right where my mates are waiting for me, smiling and waving.

Well, on the positive side, this situation has given us all something truly special. Never before could we be all by ourselves to enjoy the nature outside of Lucis. Here are no longer any bodyguards, no restrictions, no regulations and no schedule to follow. I have heard many tales in the past, of how our Crystal protected our lands for many generations, but to finally see for myself what lies beyond the protective wall of Insomnia, is simply incredible. This is a place where the power of the Crystal couldn't reach and where wildlife has taken over.

Wasteland or not, I feel my excitement grow, and I just can't wait to fully explore the Duscae region and the lands beyond.

**...**

After many hours of walking, running, jumping and crawling around in mud, trying to trace down the dangerous Behemoth (who we still couldn't find today), fighting annoying Sabertusks (hell, they were dodging so fast, that constantly aiming at trees and bushes was slowly getting awkward), meeting gigantic Garulas (they were seriously cute, I couldn't hit any of those, but Ignis did recommend their steaks for our stamina so Gladio and and Prompto had to hunt a few) and after having some major brawls with some defiant Magiteck soldiers (who, by the way, were incredibly tough) back and forth all day, I quickly began to eat my own words from this morning.

Yeah, I definitely was looking forward to 'exploring' these lands, my tired, royal ass. But after having our exploring asses kicked by various species of the lovely Duscae region, we all unceremoniously decided to go back to the Coernix gas station before night crawls in. Back to where Cidney waits for us, or better said, where she waits for our money, or to be more precise, where she waits for Gladio.

I smirk to myself at that final part. Ever since Gladio met Cidney for the first time a few days ago, he had been immediately hooked on her, talking to her nonstop whenever we visit her, and well, I haven't seen her turning his not so subtle advances down, yet. I'm curious to see how far he will take this, as everyone else in our group lacks experience with the other gender. Our strict upbringing didn't give us many opportunities for us to 'sow one's wild oats'. Gladio is the only one between us with the most experience in dating matters.

Anyway, back to the previous topic.

We all agreed, that sleeping one more night cramped inside the tent, on the hard floor, risking choking on overwhelming odors of sweat and dirt, would definitely be the end of us. No amount of aftershave and deodorant will be able to hide this tonight. Truly, it doesn't have to become manlier than that for us to feel connected like real close buddies. We already are close enough, thank you very much, and there is indeed no need for further demonstration. So spending the night in the expensive caravan, especially when our tired bodies are in a dire need to clean off all the stench, filth and slime of ourselves from the fighting sessions accumulated these past few days, a hot shower suddenly became the strongest motivator for our exhausted feet to keep on walking the very last few miles.

Oh, by the way, Prompto has made a total mess of himself. I need to stifle a chuckle, careful not to start up a full belly laugh at the priceless sight of him. Today we all kind of managed to look like swines who have enjoyed taking several mud baths one after another. But Prompto's attire is by all means on a whole other level. It's pushing beyond the usual dimensions of grime and dirt and I quickly hide my mouth with my hand as I look him up and down, trying my best not to laugh out loud. While Ignis and Gladio could keep their composure even in the most challenging of fights, landing hit after hit elegantly back on their feet, Prompto was doing his very best to keep as much contact with the ground below him as possible.

Both of us stop walking. Prompto seems to know that I stare at him right now, and I smirk at his dismayed expression when he turns around to challenge me into a staring contest.

"What?" He glares at me now, as if reading my mind, both of us knowing very well how I like to pull his leg about his fighting techniques and wild acrobatic jumps.

But to come to his defense, he never could enjoy any professional training, not any of the kind that Ignis, Gladio and myself have gotten drummed into our skulls since childhood. That's why Prompto jumps around a lot, rolling on the ground back and forth as if to become one with the vegetation around him, and more often than not, he completely exhausts himself out of sheer youthful enthusiasm. I applaud his courage and we all do appreciate his will to try his very best regardless. But still, I just simply enjoy to the fullest to tease him relentlessly about it, I'm aware of his attempts to impress me at every given opportunity.

I snap out of my thoughts, because Prompto suddenly approaches me, like a predator usually does to his prey, still full on glaring at me.

With a strong warning in his voice, he growls playfully, "Noct, run, or else..." He holds his arms up, prepared to catch a hold of me and only then do I start to back away from him, slowly, steadily and grinning widely.

"Just look at yourself," I mock him, getting into a very good mood right now for a playful brawl between us as I add, "all the mud clinging on you will slow you down. No matter how fast you are, you won't get me."

He finally looks down on himself, realizing probably for the first time how messy his clothes truly are while stumbling over a rock with a complete hilarious expression on his face, and hell, I can't help it, he looks so damn funny that I can't contain the laughter anymore. I gave my all, honestly, I really, really tried to hold it inside of me for the past hour or so, but his face right now is just too priceless!

Prompto immediately catches up to me, using his chance to jump on my back, holding himself up tightly on my neck and lifting his legs off the ground to clutch them around my waist to yell and laugh into my ears until they start ringing.

"You thought I wouldn't be fast enough? Ha, take this!"

He starts tickling me everywhere his arms can reach, and I only laugh harder, spinning around as I try to shake him off.

Because his weight is already too much for my tattered body to bear, we both fall on the ground with a hard thud and we start to roar immediately with laughter, clutching at each other like mad men. To Ignis and Gladio we probably look like utter idiots right now, but at the moment I could care less about that damn pristine image of me I usually have to uphold.

Eos, I simply love those rare moments with Prompto, where I can be myself and be completely carefree. I enjoy those moments far more than somebody in my position as a crown prince probably should be doing. Prompto is the only one, who can tickle forth this irresponsible side of me, and he's the only one, to whom I allow to touch me that intimately. I secretly revel in the pleasant banter that takes place between us every single time we fool around...

We look fondly into each others eyes. I take notice of his cheeks, flushed a compelling red from exertion, then the tears in each corner of his eyes, formed from laughing so much. His bright, blue eyes twinkling mischievously at me, while having this signature handsome smile with his perfect white row of teeth and soft looking lips that right now look so inviting...

The laughter between us stops gradually. For one moment, the time seems to be standing completely still.

I feel drawn to him. Drawn to his lips.

Do I imagine this, but the look in his eyes becomes even more tender and meaningful by the minute.

I gasp out loud, surprised that I can read longing inside of them. My heart suddenly skips a few beats, only for me to feel it jump straight up into my throat and staying there stubbornly, as if it were glued. Because of this I find myself not able to swallow properly.

But I lean forward regardless, my body suddenly trembling with anticipation. I find myself responding to his longing, leaning in, bit by bit closer to his body, being pulled like a moth to the light much closer to his face. Closer to his soft looking lips.

Prompto's expression right now, I can only describe it as hypnotic. His breathing hitches and increases in an alarming manner as his warm exhales of breath puff against my skin, his eyelids slowly closing...

Wait. Just wait a minute.

What's happening to us?

I all of a sudden become aware of his strong, lean legs around me, of his pleasant warmth that reaches my skin despite the cold and damp mud on our clothes. I notice his spicy scent of sweat mixed with a hint of the musky aftershave he used on himself this morning, and Eos help me, instead of finding this all repelling, a sudden violent _something_ twists my guts into tight knots of lust, vehemently waking up my nether regions and shocking me into standing still.

Like a fish on land fighting to keep from suffocating, I resist the sudden roar of fire in my groin to show up visibly on my face. But it seems to be fruitless, my face feeling too hot all of a sudden as I recognize Prompto's knowing look once he understands the full effect he has on me.

Such an intense desire, coming out of seemingly nowhere. It's simply maddening. Of the kind that I up until now had absolutely no clue it could exist inside of me, this sudden forceful urge, to pull him firmly against me and to touch and feel his touch in return. A want so powerful emerges from deep within, that I forget breathing and simply don't know what to make of it. The harsh, almost painful arousal paralyzes me on the spot, shocking and liberating me all at once.

But then I start to remember that lately, I began to feel all strange and tingly around Prompto. I began to notice him sneaking glances at me, his unusual touches, like those kissing imitations inside my ear this morning. I clearly must have enjoyed every single one of his advances when his close presence excites me that much right now. It's funny how I never thought much about the deeper implications behind everything that I allowed to happen between us until now.

Before I can question these feelings and emotions any further, suddenly the blurry face that starred in my dream the night before merges with Prompto's face before me. My eyes grow impossibly large from the shocking revelation. My friend's handsome face is only mere inches apart from mine, and I suddenly need a moment to catch my breath. A moment to keep myself together.

Just now, only for a short moment, Prompto felt so familiar! He felt so close and so precious to me, and I mean not only as a childhood friend. But as, dare I think it, a lover...

Oh hell, the need to touch him now, the need to taste his lips has become unbearable.

The desire inside grows and builds up by the second, my hands are shaking from the sheer strength of it. I gulp down my own saliva which almost threatens to choke me up from my growing excitement.

At this moment Prompto slides further up to me, until I have him fully sitting down on my lap. Our groins are pressed against another and both of us groan softly from the electrifying feeling when we feel each others hardness touch through the material of our trousers. The heat emanating from his body almost burns me up and if I do not let go of him any minute now, I fear I'll do something very, very foolish.

Eos, what am I thinking? What is wrong with me?

The flames of lust and sexual appetite grow relentlessly, clouding my mind more and more as my hesitant hands find his hips to stop him from continuing to rock against my hardness. If he resumes this madness, I clearly don't have a clue what kind of ferocious response he will unleash within me in a few seconds...

Prompto has long stopped smiling, he has such a serious, yearning expression on his attractive face while his fingers stroke my cheek in tender movements. My body gives a delightful shudder at his gentle touch. Without my conscious permission, I feel my arms sliding around his back, pulling him closer to my chest, our lips only mere inches apart now, those scorching flames licking around my groin demanding for more heat and contact between us, and I'm so close to give in. So damn close.

The top of his fingers are trembling. They explore the skin on my face, his thumb stroking over my lips a few times as I gaze at him with half-lidded eyes, completely lost into the sensations as tremors of delicious arousal make me groan against his lips. When my hands slide down to clutch his hips, he immediately starts to rotate his groin into mine again and again and I hiss when the soft touch of his fingertips reach the tender skin of my throat. I lick over my dry lips to wet them and his eyes shift immediately to the tip of my tongue, his intent to kiss me obvious. He keeps me captivated as he hooks his forefinger into the collar of my shirt, pulling me up to him until our lips are only a breath away from touching, his fingers teasing over the exposed skin underneath before tugging at the material in a way that makes me shiver and shake like a leaf. My strangled sounding moan instantly bringing us back to the present, back to the fact of how we might look to outsiders.

But instead of jumping up in panic, Prompto presses his quivering body fully into me, embracing me tightly, his cheek now touching mine as I hear very soft and needy whispers in my ear, "Noct, please, do something... anything. This is too much...", his soft, silent sounds of pleasure and his warm breath against my sensitive earlobes give me goosebumps all over my body, his warm lips touching the sensitive skin there as our hips continue to tease another in small, short movements, both of us trying to keep that delicious friction going without alerting anyone who might watch of what we're truly doing...

My eyes close down all on their own to savor the rush of excitement that his alluring words call forth inside of me. Now that I'm one hundred percent sure to have his consent, my hands itch to touch his bare skin everywhere...

But just when I reach my hands underneath his shirt, a surprised gasp escapes both of us. A chuckling Gladio comes over to lift Prompto up from my lap to scold him, his worry palpable that Prompto possibly might have injured me in our childish display of _affection_.

I am relieved and annoyed at the same time at Gladio's interruption. Hell, I better take a moment to breathe properly. Those past few minutes could have escalated and become very, very awkward for all of us afterward. They were intensely charged with erotic intent. I'm still shaking and I still have goose bumps all over my body from this intense experience, having absolutely no clue why this happened or how to move on, the fiery desire still clouding every corner of my mind and making it so very hard to think.

I force myself not to take a look at Prompto, the muscles in my body taut and tense in fear of acting out what my lower half still demands of me.

At least I have a bit room to breathe now, to focus on my heart, forcing it to beat in a normal rhythm again. After awhile I can finally feel the blood flow upward again, slowly but surely, back up to my upper regions to fill up every vessel of my short circuited brain once more with oxygen.

Now that I can use my brain again, the blurry face from my dreams, was this person Prompto? But how in the world is this even possible? Does that mean, the terrible longing that I've suffered so many nights in the past few weeks, the burning desire in my gut, was for him all along?

I place my shaky hands on my cheeks, trying to hide my red face from the outside world. Eos, this would explain my emerging obsession to observe my friend all the time, it would explain all the touching, continuously watching him sleep, and it would explain the strong attraction that I feel for him right now.

This would explain everything.

My whole being trembles from head to toe, but I don't exactly have the time and luxury to mull over my new insights, postponing it until tonight. So I attempt to stand up on weak feet, still too shocked to the core, and when I look up, Ignis already stands directly in front of me to give me a hand.

Signaling me the 'I know what's going on' look, he says, "Let's keep going, the sun goes down in about an hour, we should hurry."

I hold my arm up for Ignis to pull me up on my feet, trying to avoid his all too knowing eyes.

Okay. I'm officially screwed. I get what kind of picture Prompto and myself might have drawn a few minutes ago. Yes, we embraced like lovers would do, he was caressing me tenderly, whispering in my ear, we almost did kiss and we almost would have done, well, many, many other things, if we were not interrupted by Gladio.

Of course, Ignis already knows something is up before I even had the chance to calmly think it over and to draw conclusions at my own pace. As always, he has to talk it over to death with me and drill his knowledge into my overloaded head, until it explodes from all the embarrassing content. Damn him and his intelligence and receptiveness and big, soft heart. Honestly, Ignis is just too smart and too good a person for his own good.

So, I guess, there is no way around this, I need to talk to him about the feelings that currently make me question everything I've had known about myself until now, maybe my childhood friend can help to sort them out.

Sighing in defeat, I follow my mates to the Coernix gas station, still on shaky legs, in passing preparing myself mentally for _the talk_ with Ignis. All the while I steal some unobtrusive glances at Prompto, watching him smile and goof around with Gladio while feeling my heart beat in crazy loops back and forth.

He and I have known each other for so many years, ever since we were around twelve years old. But, this time, I can't help but look at him for the first time very closely. Looking at him with the hungry eyes of a lover, starting to memorize every detail of him and being careful not to miss out on something special. Despite his messy attire today, I find him truly captivating. A few times I catch him sneaking a few glances back at me, and sweet Eos in heaven, how I love this sizzling heat between us. I can't help but welcome these exciting feelings with open arms after all those sad and tragic experiences in the past few weeks. I can finally focus on something that makes me feel alive again...

The intense erotic experience, those short minutes of pleasure that we both shared, have opened my eyes to Prompto's behavior toward me. While my whole body still vibrates with aftershocks of pleasant arousal, the desire for us to be as close as possible has fully awakened by now, it's undeniable.

Burning excitement is threatening to overcome me at the implications of my new discovery today.

It's making me all giddy inside...

**...**

A few minutes later we all sigh and groan out, everyone utterly exhausted and each one of us feeling relieved at the sight of our most longed for caravan. Further away there are some older looking guys, sitting on their chairs and sending us strange looks. Gladio turns to glare back at them and suddenly they face the other way. That was creepy.

"At last, hot shower guys! Who's going first?" Prompto jumps up and down, grinning widely, barely containing his aching need to feel clean again. We all smirk at each other. After some childish rounds of rock-paper-scissors, Prompto, naturally, goes first. Well, gambling was always his forte.

"See ya later!" He winks at me with a bright, blinding smile before he runs towards the caravan, and my heart leaps inside my chest, my entire body madly throbbing with something that I can't give a name, something that has started but could not find the completion that it's seeking.

I can't even express how badly I want to follow him, my eyes doing a pretty good job of trailing his figure until he completely disappears inside the caravan. A huge, craving sigh escapes my lips, but then Ignis, who all of a sudden stands right next to me, clears his throat which in turn makes me jump in fright.

While we wait for Prompto to finish his shower, Gladio goes ahead to talk with Cidney for a few minutes, before she closes down her workshop. It's obvious he likes her a lot and I amuse myself to various thoughts about those two in a romantic setting. Of course, only for distraction, not to let myself overthink my previous discovery that is still freshly ingrained in my mind... and groin area.

Ignis prepares his _mobile kitchen_, so that after everyone is ready and clean, we can all sit down and enjoy a healthy meal together. I really need to mention that his cooking skills are to die for and I wish it was him who could have replaced that terrible cook serving us in my childhood. I could eat myself silly on his culinary delights all day and night long, and the best thing is, Ignis only gets better and better at it.

As he sets up the table in front of him, he calls for me to come over.

And so it begins.

I get nervous, now that we are alone and have a few minutes to talk. Only my curious nature encourages me to move forward to stand before Ignis. I find myself speechless, not knowing where to start. It's the first time I've ever felt desire of such massive scale today and it's the first time someone witnessed this side of me after all.

Ignis clears his throat once, twice, and says three simple words to me, "Prompto likes you." He stares right through me, gauging my reaction with his sharp eyes.

I stand there as though I've been ordered but never picked up.

"Yeah, I'm aware. I like him too," is my obvious answer.

Now Ignis rolls his eyes at me. "Be serious Noct. You know exactly how I meant that. You should have seen all the glances full of longing with which I caught him throwing at your back whenever you were looking elsewhere. He was doing it for Eos only knows how many times, because I have since long stopped counting. The whole sneaky and tease-touching between the two of you has grown to innumerable proportions where I just couldn't stay silent anymore."

My cheeks flush in embarrassment and I instantly open up my mouth to disagree, "I did no tease-touching! He did!"

But then, I remember quite a few times where I indeed have teased him on purpose, only to get a response out of him to touch me some more, a lot more. Don't get me even started at the recent erotic encounter that happened only an hour ago...

So, I smartly choose to close my mouth with a snap at Ignis' knowing look to continue to listen to him instead.

Ignis proceeds, sharing his insights with me, "Actually, Prompto still innocently thinks that he hides his behavior very well. It's been actually quite comical to watch, but he miscalculated. He did not count on me to found out about his secret schemes which weren't as secret as he initially had thought they were."

He pauses to look critically at the fresh vegetables in front of him, cleaning and setting one after another on the chopping board and successfully reminding me of how hungry I am. "As I've said, his glances and subtle touches were not lost on me. Also, not lost on me were your own, let's say unconscious reactions to him, which I found really surprising and interesting to say the least."

I silently congratulate myself for managing to stay still and for keeping up, hopefully, a perfect poker face on my, well, perfect red face. Even if I wanted to say something, I probably for the life of me couldn't bring myself to speak out a proper sentence. My heart still not calming down and beating madly in my chest at the pleasant memories that come up to remind me how much I wanted to kiss and touch Prompto earlier. We all do know of that feeling. Like a child being caught doing naughty things he should not be doing, and this is what I feel right now. Only, the naughty things suddenly grew up to become x-rated adult things...

Quite frankly, to have Ignis pointing everything out to me is, well, a confirmation. Of course, I already get his meaning, clearly everything he told me so far was not lost on me either, not now when I finally can think clearly again. However, today is the first day when my eyes did literally open, and it's today that I could fit parts of the puzzle on my very own, and damn, if that is not a huge discovery.

I need only to think back, at the needy words Prompto had murmured so intimately into my ear, and immediately I can feel myself grow very, very hot and bothered. I simply don't know what to say now. Do I have to defend Prompto? Do I need to defend myself? Hence, I look imploringly at Ignis and wait for him to share further conclusions with me.

I am terribly afraid of Ignis not approving of any of this. His opinion, friendship and loyalty means so much to me.

But Ignis sorts out all the spices and remaining ingredients for this evening's meal in a very calm manner, and then starts to peal an onion. Painfully slow, with a focused expression on his face.

I still wait for him to continue, growing nervous, dreading his next words as I've never done before. Knowing that he would jump right at the essential part of our conversation next.

He cuts the onion in two parts, placing one half away, and then he cuts the other half quickly into equal cubes of perfection. Now pouring some olive oil into the frying pan at his side, he pushes with his knife all onion pieces into it, and then he takes the next onion into his hand.

No matter how often I watched him doing this, I can only marvel at his cooking skills.

"You know," he says after chopping for a while, "I proud myself upon knowing yourself and Prompto better than probably you two know each other. For a long time I saw this attraction between the two of you coming, knowing one day, I would need to talk to you about this."

"Ignis," I immediately interrupt him and I can't really help myself from adding a small joke, "In case you don't know, I already got the talk about the bees and flowers, which was quite embarrassing by the way. I am aware of the mechanics of gay sex. No need for further explanation."

I get a small chuckle in response from him. "Don't get your royal knickers in a twist," he jokes back. "It was not my intention to go down that road. Could you seriously imagine myself, telling you in precise detail, on how to open a tube of lubrication, how to use a potion, how to prepare, arouse and pleasure Prompto the best way, and how to best aim the thrust of your own hard co-"

"Ignis!" I blurt out, instantly crying out his name in shock as he makes obvious movements with his hands, my face flushing to the roots of my dark hair as I add totally shocked out of my shell, "Stop it! Just stop it right there."

Eos! This is such a bizarre conversation tonight! No forget it, this whole day has taken such a bizarre turn all of a sudden. Not in a million years had I thought this morning that today would become like this.

Hell, my burning face must be blazing by now. All because of those images that Ignis inspired in my already stimulated brain and are in the process to boil the hormonal fluids inside of me to unbearable temperatures. So I rise my hands up to rub over my heated face in a futile attempt to hide my dirty thoughts of Prompto-hiding them especially from myself.

Ignis actually laughs out loud at my reaction and I just can't help myself but join him.

Damn him, he's a genius, I fell for his bait.

When the laughter turns into small chuckles, he continues, "You see, today, this attraction between you two reached new heights and was the most palpable of what I've ever witnessed between the two of you. You could have cut the tension in half with a knife." As if demonstrating his meaning he slices the next poor vegetable cleanly in half and looks at me intently. "Like this."

I suddenly need to hold onto something, so I grab a hold on the more or less stable chair beside me to steady myself. Forcing myself to look like the cool guy I usually thrive to be, but actually feeling very, very uncool from the inside this very moment, and so I furiously think of something intelligent to say.

"Stop, I can see your head spinning. Just unwind your inner twisting passages for a moment and do me the favor of inhaling a very deep breath."

Taking a breath, I do exactly what he told me, before I really start to hyperventilate myself into fainting. Inhale, exhale.

"Noct, may I be honest with you?" Ignis leans over the table to reach out to my arm, petting the fabric of my shirt a few times. "Regardless of what everyone else in our family thought of him, and regardless of his famous reputation, personally I think Prompto has done a lot of good for you."

A lot of good? I rise one of my eyebrows at him. Is he serious?

"Oh come on Noct, don't give me that look. Let me explain."

I cross my arms and wait for his explanation.

"As a teen, before you came to know him, you were a loner, shy and introverted. You had a reserved attitude and seemed to be lonely. Then one day, Prompto followed you around. A chubby and shy youngster. He could have been simply ingnoring you, but for some reason, you were suddenly his entire focus and three years later he joined your side. I have still a clear memory of how his eyes did lit up in excitement at talking to you properly for the first time. Imagine my surprise, because you were immediately drawn to him-as he was equally drawn to you-and to hear yourself opening up to him so quickly," Ignis is shakes his head as if amused and then adds further, "Really, the things you two did for years after your first meeting, even when our family did not approve to every mischief he was responsible for. But Noct, don't you see? Prompto really changed you in a way neither your father, nor Gladio, nor myself ever could."

Ignis points his finger at me. "You only need to look at your present self to understand. You laugh more often, you act carefree with him in a way you never did with anyone else, and you thoroughly enjoy the time you spend with him. In addition to that, in his promixity, all of a sudden you react like an adult in difficult situations. You fiercly protect not only him, but everyone dear to you and you lean less into emotional outbursts. You do understand what this means? He gives you the strength and attention you always craved to have and in doing so he grounds you to this reality."

I blink at him with wide opened eyes. Have I really changed that much?

Ignis smiles softly at me. My astonished stare never leaving his eyes. "Noct, I thought I would never say this out loud, but Prompto does indeed complement you very well. Both of you are adults now and it's high time for you two to make your own decisions. From now on, do whatever you feel is right." With this, he just leans back to resume chopping the onion on the board.

He seems have finished his speech, sending me a tiny, but understanding smile.

Only then it dawns on me. Ignis approves, and to have his support and encouragement means the world to me!

I send him a relieved smile in answer, but I still need to hold onto the chair beside me, as if it could keep me from losing the ground beneath my feet. As always Ignis is spot on with his observations. It's true that Prompto has changed my life in a profound way. I guess, I just never let myself think that far ahead. Somewhere inbetween of all those chaotic emotions, I somehow fell for Prompto. How in the world did I not see this coming?

I pause to collect my thoughts and feelings into smart sounding words, feeling for once like the world around me stopped spinning, instead of starting, and I realize, something world shattering has been brought into my life today, changing my inner world at a single stroke just when suddenly Prompto materializes out of nowhere right beside us.

"Yo!" He greets us with a wide, stunning smile.

I look probably like a deer caught in the headlights, having a lovestruck (translation: stupid) expression on my face as he looks questionly back and forth between Ignis and myself.

His eyes then finally stay fixed on the cook. "Can I help you to prepare something?"

Ignis shakes his head, a soft, small smile gracing his lips when he sees the lovestruck expression on my face, "Thanks Prompto, but I have everything ready, just wait a little until I get back." After slicing and placing the last square shaped onion pieces into the frying pan, Ignis decides to leave us alone, but not before he sends me a meaningful glance over his shoulder.

I swiftly turn my head away to hide the furious blush on my cheeks. It's the weirdest feeling to be left all alone with a very clean, very handsome, very good smelling Prompto. I'm as excited as I am terrified of my own reactions to his presence so close to me. Something definitely changed and began shifting between us an hour ago. The butterflies in my stomach increase steadily as I peek under my fringe at him. His blonde hair is still damp from the shower and I'm secretly glad for it, because I've always liked his natural, unruly hair to fall over his eyes like that. The _come hither_ effect his eyes have on me today is stronger than ever before...

Now that I understand the attraction between us, and now that I've become aware of how truly precious he is to me, he suddenly makes me feel so... hell, I have no words to describe. If it wouldn't be suspicious, I would slap my forehead right now for not realizing the blatant attraction between us much sooner. Has it always been this obvious?

I draw in a sharp breath of fresh air. Even in my mind my words fail me today, so I better give up entirely to try to act cool. I smile nervously at Prompto, those fluttering butterflies still wreaking havoc in my belly when I ask him, "Feeling better now?" Eos, my voice just cracked under the nervous pressure hammering against my throat. I hope he didn't notice.

"Oh? Err, yeah, it's like being reborn all over again. Almost forgot what it feels like to be clean, everywhere," he says in a husky tone of voice, throwing me off with a cheeky smirk at the word _everywhere_. A realization that goes straight to my twisted groin. I really did not intend for this outrageous image to come up, of him stroking himself clean _everywhere_ and perhaps touching himself in the shower... Eos, I can't stop the sudden coloring of my face to heat up even further, which surely must give away the fact to where my thoughts linger right now.

"I did scrub myself clean to such an extent, that I can see you right now squinting your eyes painfully at my sparkling self," he adds softly, the flirting innuendo unmissable as he punches playfully on my chest and in addition to that even sending me a teasing wink.

Oh hell...

By now my throat feels completely dry, I'm not exaggerating. I quickly proceed to look around me, furiously grabbing a bottle of water to take some refreshing gulps. His eyes burn their way down to my Adam's apple as I swallow down the water, and just when I risk a peek to his face again, I nearly choke on the remaining drops but thankfully manage to prevent myself to be rewarded with a harsh, coughing fit.

Eos help me, I'm glad that I managed to catch a small glimpse of his eager eyes, which grew dark and intense for this half second, before he could straighten his facial expression back to normal. But this certainly doesn't do me any favors, because I can already feel the tip of my ears burn an embarrassing red as my blood starts to boil once again from heady arousal.

I clearly saw and read his intent, and damn, if he just didn't eat me alive with those smoldering eyes of his...

This truly is gobsmacking. How in the world did I miss his obvious hints all this time? Where is this attraction between us coming from? Was it always there? Was I just not fully aware of any of it until now?

Alone his presence draws me in once more. The air around us charges with erotic intent once again. A shudder of pleasure, much stronger than the one from hours before, shoots straight through my entire body. Rushing from the top of my head, straight down to the top of my feet, curling my toes in the most delicious way until I feel it traveling right back up, to focus on my now fully aroused member. This time it stays and focuses its unbearable heat firmly there, refusing to budge.

It's absolutely electrifying. The same as everything about Prompto this evening.

I have never, and I truly mean never, felt anything overwhelmingly like this for anyone in my entire life.

The only smart thing I can do at this moment, to keep myself from acting out on my urge to do something or anything pleasurable involving him, is to grasp the half-empty water bottle in my hand, tightly. Very tightly.

My jaw clenches and unclenches in a futile attempt to calm myself down. So that I won't immediately jump and let out my deepest subconscious needs, nor my hidden inhibitions that I kept all these years fiercely in check go berserk on him.

I hear him swallow wetly. From my extreme restraint visible in my rigid stance, he now definitely knows that I know that he _knows_ what I _know_.

We crave for each other's touch in the same way we need the air to breathe.

The raw desire in my eyes should be painfully clear for him to see, and I guessed right, because he quickly shifts his gaze toward the frying pan, gnawing on his lower lip, so enticingly, tempting me.

Probably he feels as shocked as I felt a few minutes ago about the fact, that I desire him just as badly in return. His eyes flutter close, nervously shifting from one feet to another, still tantalizing his lips with his white and straight teeth absentmindedly, and I can only silently observe from over here, about one meter apart from him, how his face grows hot from this knowledge. From the looks of it, he's only barely holding himself upright.

The constant rising temperature between us makes us tense with anticipation for someone to say something, for something to happen...

After what seems to be an aeon, he finally steals a glance full of want in answer to my own in my direction, his pouting lips still held captive by his teeth.

I'm not that naive as many might think of me. Many people, female and male alike, have made various sexual advances on me in the recent past. I know I'm blessed with good looks and I certainly understand that my power and presence attracts those people even more, but I never cared for nor have I ever felt the need to reciprocated any of that.

Never.

Not until now.

A hunger so great takes possession of me right now, I can't properly express. The various lights reflecting inside Prompto's eyes, as he silently gazes back at me, suddenly makes me throw caution to the wind. I _need_ to be the one to nibble on his lips in his stead, even if this is the last thing that I'll ever do.

Here. Right now. Whatever the cost.

I can literally hear my resolve snapping, not caring any longer about my composure or discipline. So I rush to take the last small steps, closing the distance between us quickly at one go.

Prompto blinks up at me, an adorable, flabbergasted expression on his quite handsome face, which makes his flushed face appear even more attractive and gorgeous to me, not having expected my move at all when I place both of my hands on each side of his cheeks, and hell, I intend to crush my lips on his and claim him for myself after all the teasing and flirting and the sensual touches between us. His musky scent of his favorite shower gel already overwhelmes my senses and I can't help but inhale and store it deeply inside of me, letting a shuddering breath out. He closes his eyes in anticipation and lets out a delicious low moan as our lips oh so slowly brush against another for the first time, only slightly nibbling.

My hands tremble on his skin with tension of trying to hold myself back. The growing pressure to have my wicked way with him simply too strong for now and I don't know what to make of it.

At first I just tease him, and he leans further into me while I draw back every time he comes closer, for whatever reason, I need the sparkling desire between us to grow stronger, higher, much higher. His breathing becomes heavier in his need for a firm touch of lips against lips as he keeps following me, his hands pulling on my head for him to hopefully catch my lips with his trembling ones.

Maybe I like to tease myself as well, because I don't recognize myself right know, I can't think clearly at the moment. I rest my forehead on his own while his eyes are squeezed shut as if in pain, his cheeks are hued a wonderful red from evident arousal when I finally allow our lips to barely brush once more. We savor each others irregular and excited breaths as they puff against our sensitive skin and the blatant yearning between us increases unbelievably high, just like that.

I can feel my powers crackling underneath my skin, as if they try to break out of the pores to reach Prompto, and right then a sweet, long, drawn out moan of pleasure follows out of his lips. Prom is so sensitive, I love it... Right now, all that I want is for him to go wild with desire for me. Clearly I'm not even in a proper state of mind to question where exactly all those lewd urges to consume him whole come from, I only know, that right now his hands clutch me on my waist, digging his fingers without mercy into my hips, his fierce hold on me demanding less teasing and more action.

Prom lets out a delicious sounding groan, "Noct, _please_..."

I still haven't figured everything out, and I still don't understand yet what it means for us to partake in our mutual attraction and desires, but damn, I just don't care right now for proper etiquette nor for any details.

Without waiting any longer, I push my right thigh between his legs to pull his trembling body flush against me. My hands find his firm bottom and they squeeze once, his breath hitching when I squeeze once more. There is no space left between us as I touch his hardness intentionally with my thigh, rubbing against his thin trousers in slow circles, and I smile against his lips when I earn myself another sweet, yet hungry moan in response.

What can I say, with Prom it's like I've shed off all my shy feelings away, I feel as if they were a second skin only and that I successfully left all my inhibitions out somewhere at a complete irrelevant place. My eyes pop almost out of my skull when I feel on my thigh that Prom doesn't wear anything else underneath those thin jeans of his, a realization that sets my blood immediately on fire and I groan out against his lips, to let him know how much this knowledge excites me.

"_Noct_," he whispers full of craving, his trembling hands trailing in response to my ministrations further down, pulling me firmly against him and it doesn't take long for our groins to start to grind all on their own, imitating the act that grows stronger on the forefront of our minds, searching for more contact and heat and pleasures, our heavy breaths mingling while our opened lips continuously touch in an almost, teasing kiss, aroused gasps escaping us which grow louder and more delighted which need to be stifled down soon else we might get caught in the act by somebody... and just when our mutual yearning for another reaches a new height, we finally crush our lips together fiercly as if desperately trying to consume each other. And Eos, nothing could have prepared me for the tingling, utterly sensual feel of his soft lips.

But right then, we can hear Gladio approaching us from the other side of the caravan, saying his final goodnight's to Cidney.

Oh hell no, please not now!

Prom and I both moan out in desperation and we both intend to prolong our very first kiss for as long as possible, widely opening our mouths and just then I coax his tongue out to battle with mine. We try to deepen the inexperienced, messy yet mind-blowing tongue-kisses, teeth clashing, noses bumping, saliva escaping, both of us frenzied to get as much pleasure as possible to appease our hunger for each other, almost losing ourselves into each other because of the full blown arousal and unstopping batches of adrenaline.

All the while we keep our ears strained, listening at how Gladio gets closer to our position, in danger to appear around the corner to discover us any minute now.

An imense spark of desire rushes up my spine at the thought of being caught, so I place my hands on each side of his face to devour him. Prompto kisses me back just as ardently, his damp lips touching spots on my own that are arousing me beyond control, he's obviously not ready to let go of me anytime soon. I'm more than pleasantly surprised when his hand suddenly cups a feel of my aroused cock through my trousers and I press myself against his hand with a low, heady groan. To show him how much I appreciate his bold move, my lips follow the trail of his saliva, sucking on the tender skin underneath his chin and focusing on his prominent veins, which at the moment pulse in tandem with his furious heart beats against my tongue. The small, incredible sounds he makes make me even hornier as I continue to feast on him with blazing hot, open mouth kisses every inch of naked skin that my eager lips and tongue can reach, leaving sensual wet trails along the supple, erogenous spots along his throat and neck. I just can't get enough of his taste, of his clean, musky scent, of his supressed, sensual and soft moans of my name next to my ear.

Prom trembles in my arms, arching his back and searching for more friction against my thigh, his heavy, panting breaths tickling my forehead as his fingers tangle inside my hair to pull my devouring lips closer to his body, and I can't help but savour his breathy, long moan while he leans his head as far back as he can to reveal to me even more delicious skin to be explored. Biting and nibbling teasingly, the flat of my tongue travels down along his collarbone, my shaky hands rushing under his thin shirt to stroke demandingly over his wonderful hot, exposed skin, and by Eos, his clean, musky scent makes me so damn dizzy. My whole body and mind quakes and pulses with this ferocious and unexplainable need for him. It's utter madness...

Gasping for air and giving a whimper, Prom clutches the nape of my neck to immediately tug at it to press my lips urgently up to his own, to fervently tongue-kiss each other one last time.

It's raw. It's passionate. It is everything we need and more.

...and hell, it's oh so very cut short. Those last kisses only manage to make us tremble with yearning for more.

Gladio is now barely a few measly steps away from discovering us.

Just then Prompto makes some exquisite, silent mewling sounds of dissapointment and his arms hold me very tightly, his body shivering from the blazing desire between us while our groins are still aligned, still rotating teasingly against another, both of us not ready to stop those pleasurable, intense feelings yet which just seem to grow, and grow stronger and higher.

"_Noct_..." Prom whispers my name brokenly against my lips, an anguished, beautiful expression on his handsome face.

I take a bittersweet moment to let my forehead touch his once more as we gaze longingly into each others eyes. His face is just too gorgeous right now, the glowing eyes and flushed cheeks, his white teeth gnawing alluringly on his full lower lip and slightly smiling... but then, all too soon, both Prompto and I jump apart from each other, frantically looking for something to do with our quivering hands now that we are no longer holding on each other anymore.

This, whatever one wants to call what just had transpired between us, is absolutely mad. This experience excites me on so many levels, that I really can't contain my overflowing emotions.

I feel high! My heart is racing, my senses are extremly high strung and overstimulated and I feel absolutely fantastic. My whole body vibrates with new energy, despite being tired and exhausted from todays training rounds and my legs are still shaking, I'm aroused beyond words, and guessing from the sight of Prompto, he seems to be in the same mad condition as myself.

I send him a quick, promising glance, that this between us has only just begun, and poor guy, he can only send me a small, albeit stiff (no pun intended) nod back. Then I watch him amused how he adjusts his thin jeans and how he curses under his breath at Gladios bad timing. I for one am truly glad for my loose, comfortable trousers.

I clear my throat once when Gladio arrives to the crime scene, and I can only silently watch how he sends us a cluless, bright smile. "Hey, Cidney is simply amazing. Man, am I glad that we can leave our car in her capable hands."

"Yeah, she's awesome!" Prompto gives Gladio a high five.

In my delirious condition, I'm only capable to put on a shaky smile on my red face, Gladio's cheerfulness being too infectious. "Yeah, she's amazing." I reply quickly, throwing a meaningful glance at Prompto which leaves him completely flustered.

The truth is, my mind is entirely focused elsewhere. Not on the car, but entirely on the amazing blond guy before me, whom until recently I thought of knowing from the inside out, naively thinking that I've already learned every intimate secret of his. My whole body and soul are fixed on Prompto, who curiously managed to spin my inner world up, down and around all day.

I hide a fond smile as I watch him quickly excuse himself, his feet almost running away from our secret, passionate crime scene while leaving a stunned and confused Gladio behind.

Eos... what I wouldn't give right now to be able to pursue him, to catch and continue to devour and ravish him, to finish the hot madness that we both have started but had to end prematurely...

...ah, but it seems it's my turn to shower soon, and in this state, well, let's just say that I can't come up quickly enough with a plausible sounding alibi to be all alone with Prompto for a few hours.

Not one moment longer, Ignis joins us at the passionate crime scene (as I like to call this place now), drying his hair nonchalantly with a fluffy towel and placing his clean glasses back on his nose.

It takes only one glance at each other. From the glint inside his eyes and his slightly upturned mouth, I know that he _knows_.

I feel my whole face redden when the realization hits me with full force.

Ignis was able to hear us... to hear everything.

But instead of panicking, I pass him while sending him a small smirk in response.

...and then I finally take my turn to have one hell of a cold shower.

**...**

* * *

To be continued :).


	2. The Astral Gate-Prompto POV-Part 1

**Chapter 2: The Astral Gate**

**...**

I have to get away from here.

So I run, speeding recklessly ahead as if a herd of stampeding Garula were after my hide.

My feet seem to know where to take me. I'm glad for it, because my foggy brain seems to be completely short circuited at the moment. I hope it doesn't shut down on me permanently, leaving me utterly brainless for the remainder of my life.

Various memories of making out with Noct play constantly in my mind, over and over. They feel like a broken record. The impressions of those unrelenting, soft lips devouring me leave me gasping and panting for breath and no matter how fast I run, I can't stop the excitement taking completely over me.

I'm a pitiful mess of hormones and emotions inside, and so I quickly need to hide somewhere, far, far away. Out of sight. I don't want anyone to see me fall apart right into the bottomless pit of outrageous arousal. From the outside I'm sure that I must look like an idiot. I just don't know where up and down, left and right is anymore. Noct's beautiful eyes, his wonderful kisses, his touch, taste and smell are still haunting me madly.

Bushes stand in my way and some twigs smack the flushed skin of my face painfully as I rush through the vegetation, only for me to stumble a few times over my own feet in my haste, my mind simply too far away to notice any of the scratches those branches leave on me. My lungs and legs start protesting, so I finally stop to lean on a tree, farther away from the caravan, far enough from Noct's alluring presence, and definitely as far away from Gladio's scrutinizing eyes as possible.

It's already dark outside and I hide myself in the protecting shadows underneath the tree as I slide down on the grassy ground to catch my erratic breath. For one moment, I've feared of getting a heart attack, at my young age no less, seeing how furious my heartbeats were just minutes ago. I really need to take a small moment to find back to my sane, stable self, but this seems to be hopeless. As soon as I close my eyes, all that I can see are Noct's intense eyes as they make love to me and all that I can feel on my lips are those breathtaking kisses we've both shared moments ago.

Heaven and hell, how did all of this happen so suddenly?

One minute, I only tease and flirt innocently (okay, maybe not that innocently), never in a million years having had any expectations that Noct might respond to my advances, only to find myself one minute later wrapped inside his arms and then all of a sudden we were doing all those delicious things together. Things, that up until recently were only wet dream material to me.

Everything happened so fast.

I'm still out of my mind at how mind-blowing (for lack of a better word) our short make-out session was. Not that I would have had any previous experiences to compare to in the first place, but by all that is precious to me, my mushy brain truly can't handle all of this, it's too much.

Grinning brightly to myself, I finally allow myself to close my eyes and then I lean my head back against the trunk of the tree, vividly recalling every single amazing moment that Noct and I just shared back there. Unconsciously, I can't help but run my tongue over my still throbbing lips, chasing after those amazing feelings Noct woke up inside of me whenever our lips had touched. I still can taste him on me, still feel his ardent, tingling open-mouthed kisses on my chin and jaw, his sensual nibbling on my throat, the flat of his tongue devouring me in obvious hunger over each and every spot on my exposed skin. Hell... he has no idea how badly turned on I am because of him, my entire body still trembles with immense need, and because of this I honestly don't know what to do with myself right now.

I can only blame those hot tongue-kisses he gave me. Tonight we've shared our very first kisses and they were phenomenal. In the past few weeks I've tried to imagine what kissing Noct might feel like, but trust me, nothing could have prepared me in advance for the real experience. It honestly didn't feel as if any of those kisses were of the kind you normally would associate with being your first kiss. They weren't exactly pure and innocent, nor had they felt timid and soft. Those were passionate kisses of two people in love who were already in an established relationship. Those were heady tongue-kisses of lovers, who were heavily, intimately craving to share sexual pleasures with one another. The fervent kisses between us had felt so genuine, so damn familiar and arousing. They were lifting both of us high up beyond words and each one of those felt so _good. _Warm skin, wet tongue, saliva mixing, breaths full of anticipation mingling together, demanding soft lips kneading against another, accompanied by our trembling legs as they intertwined to grind our groins sensually to set more pleasures between us aflame... alone the thought of the things we could have done tonight if we hadn't been interrupted makes me so incredibly horny. I think I'm about to implode and die here from blood loss alone, seriously.

A yearning moan escapes me and I can't stop my hands from traveling down further along my body in longing for Noct's touch once more. Everything tingles and burns in all the right places. I don't want those intense feelings to end anytime soon. I'm sweating, my limbs are shaking. My chest, among other parts of my body, feels ready to burst. It's like I'm about to turn delirious from all the heat and need inside. Noct caught me totally off guard this evening and he left me completely mind blown with an unquenchable thirst to experience so much more.

If I remember right, it's his turn to shower and I guess he might already have an inkling of how much I would want to go back there, unhinge that damn caravan door and throw it somewhere far behind me as I march my way straight up to the shower stall and then rip the flimsy shower curtain off to tackle his glorious body. Goddess, I would let him do _anything_ with my overstimulated body, I don't care what, as long as we both pass out in orgasmic bliss after. I'm completely serious.

I swallow dryly as I glance up into the starry night sky above.

Noct...

I wish he would have followed me here. I've never felt like this for anyone before, I crave more of him, more of his soft, hot skin, more of the deep kisses that blew my mind away this evening, more of everything.

Noct, please...

I stare with longing into the darkness, eyes fixed on the glimming lights of the Coernix gas station, hoping like a fool that he might appear any moment in front of me.

With another yearning groan, I hide my heated cheeks with my hands, my fluttering heart still racing, my inhales and exhales of breath still harsh from the blazing longing for some kind of completion. I really need to give myself a few moments to calm the hell down, else I fear to completely succumb to this madness.

Am I in heat or something? Honestly, my body feels like it's on fire. What's gotten into me? How in the world does anyone expect me to sleep tonight, continuing to share a bed together with Noct in the caravan as if nothing special had happened between us?! That's insane. There will be no room to escape touching each other whenever one of us rolls over in sleep, and make no mistake, I truly will die with want if Noct touches me ever so slightly. I'll personally tackle him in his sleep and demand to blissfully ravish each other, consequences be damned. I won't even care if Ignis or Gladio were to witness one of the most embarrassing moments in my entire life tonight.

Whatever it is that Noct woke up inside of me today, I can't contain it. I'm not able to hold all the intense emotions back for too long. Neither of us would be able to stop if one of us were to make a move on each other tonight, and... the funny yet scary thing is, I may know the reason why.

That is, I keep a big secret from everyone. With big, I mean there's a lot to explain.

A few weeks ago, some strange dreams began to haunt me at night. At first, it was just a dream version of myself, protecting Noct from some kind of a dangerous, blurry situation. Some serious stuff. But then, as more days passed, the dreams changed in flavor. Or to be more specific, Noct and I became lovers in those dreams.

What I've witnessed there, is now responsible for falling completely head over heels in love with Noct in real life. I found myself wishing to experience the same life as my counterpart did in my dreams, and then suddenly, those dreams grew night after night more intense, incredibly sensual and erotic. It didn't take me long to understand that someone wanted me to witness those experiences and to learn from them.

The dreams I dream each night ever since then, carry an important message. Somebody allowed me to glimpse into... well, what exactly? Were they memories of a distant past life? Were they a parallel reality? Or perhaps glimpses of a possible future? Visions? I'm not sure, but whoever this person might be, they want me to become aware of a profound detail regarding Noct's health. Something that made me speechless as soon as I realized the true meaning.

Noct and myself have known each other for a long time. What I can say for sure now is, those dreams have achieved to drastically change my platonic perception of him in an instant. No longer was I able to keep apart the Noct version of my dreams, to whom the version of myself in those dreams made the most intense love, from the Noct version living in this reality. Both had merged overnight as one. Thanks to that, my awakened emotions toward him now go beyond anything I've ever felt and it took me many weeks to work out on my own how to react to the sudden, fierce attraction. I felt unsure if I should allow myself to react in any way at all, because I didn't want to jeopardize our precious friendship.

I may be a reckless guy, but I'm not totally clueless. I noticed Noct's unconscious reactions to my teasing advances even before he himself did. He told me once, that he's awake most of the time at night, which has to do with him suffering insomnia since childhood, and ever since he and I sleep in such close proximity, I've also became aware how much he likes to watch me sleep each night. This was the moment and the catalyst for me, which encouraged me to flirt in a more blatant manner with him. I felt hopeful that he might feel the same attraction and connection as I do. And well... the heated events from today were certainly proof enough of that.

But I'm rambling, so back to that important lesson that I learned from those dreams. Today a significant power (yeah, Ignis has rubbed off on me some of his smart sounding vocabulary) residing inside Noct has permanently woken up from its deep sleep. I could feel Noct's mysterious powers resonate within me the instant he wrapped his arms around me a few hours ago. It seems that the ability to manipulate his magic at will has been awakened the moment he and I were ready to act on our mutual attraction and desires.

Thus, thanks to those dreams I've had, I found out only recently that this strong connection between Noct and myself has an important purpose hidden behind the pleasure we both seek. Sexual energy replenishes his depleted magical powers instantly.

At least from my narrow perception so far, I can understand that once Noct's magical energy had been absorbed, for instance, after having summoned the mystical Phantom weapons to protect himself or to fight, Noct is either sleepy and tired beyond help, or in most cases completely knocked out for days. It seems until now, the only normal way for him to fill up his magic resources had been by resting his body while sleeping deeply. But ironically, deep and replenishing sleep escapes his grasp most of the time because of his illness.

When I further thought about Noct's inability to sleep tight, I suddenly remembered something. I once stumbled over an ancient book (yeah do imagine, I like to read) about ancient sexual magic, and there I read that every living being who has a consciousness in this world needs life force to properly function. This life force, also called etheric energy, is the same as what we here in Lucis call magic. Whenever conscious beings share a sexual act with another, they always accumulate some of their combined life force. By experiencing an orgasm, this life force gets released into the upper realms. It depends on the intent behind their sexual act, whether a soul will be born physically into this world, or if a higher consciousness absorbs this life force to nourish and keep their own energy bodies alive. I know, this sounds crazy, but the latter is what Noct's Phantom weapons are in truth doing. They eat Noct's life force steadily away and thus, an unsolvable problem arises. His body and mind isn't able to replenish his life force as fast as he needs to in order to stay healthy.

So this is what those dreams have taught me so far. There is something inside of me, a strange power of my own that I never knew I had, which resonates and allows me to bond with Noct's own magic powers on a deeper level to support and replenish his life force so that he can stay constantly energized. By sharing sexual pleasures and release with another, my own life force will be absorbed by Noct's powers like a sponge and it'll get stored inside of him to empower his magical core.

As soon as I could put two and two together, which at first was absolutely mind-boggling to me, it became clear that this option would have on Noct's life and well-being major improvements. His illness would completely stop to plague him and he'll even become a lot more powerful with time.

I'm not a healer, but my gut tells me this could be the only cure for Noct to no longer suffer the negative side effects of his inheritance. As I've lived in such a close proximity to him for so many years, I inevitably noticed the connection between his inability to sleep, the unusual tiredness and the constant low life energy as his powers continue to demand more and more from him each day. All those symptoms go hand in hand.

Well, and as I just explained, this is where I seem to come in. Acting as a compatible partner, to help Noct manipulate his own life energy and to ground him, to keep him alive.

This is the message all my intense dreams have given me. That's it. My big secret.

Probably some things might be pure speculation on my part, leaving much room for improvement. But I'm sure there is something deeper to this, something which I can't figure out on my own. But this is at least one possible explanation. I might not be as smart as Ignis, but I get where Noct's inheritance comes from, as his powers reach far back over many generations, and now, thanks to those dreams, or maybe even memories, I finally can relate to and be a part of at least one piece of his destiny...

So, back to my previous problem, the one with Noct and me sleeping almost on top of each other and what we obviously won't be able to avoid tonight.

First problem, the tight space on the caravan's beds. The second problem, Gladio and Ignis, both sleeping in our immediate proximity. The third one, as long as Noct and I are stuck in this situation without the car (stupid me), we can never be alone (in a hotel room), or at least be alone long enough for us to find the release we both crave and need.

What can I do?

A loud, exasperated sigh escapes me. I almost wish Noct and I hadn't kissed nor made out this evening at all, because now that I know what it feels like to be ravished by him, I suddenly want so much more of the same...

The truth is, I truly wish to help him. To imagine him fully awake in the day and fast asleep at night, and to imagine him having full access to unlimited magic power, is definitely more than worth for me to pursue such mutual pleasures with him. All those years before, I was just happy to stay by his side, I felt and still feel honored to be one of his closest friends, to have been adopted into the close circle of his royal family. I would for nothing in the world want to risk to bring this profound bond between us to ruins only because of some cheap feelings of lust. But now, after those relentless dreams successfully made me yearn and crave for Noct in ways that go beyond anything I've ever known, especially after I understood the true message of those mysterious dreams, I can rest assured in my knowledge (as meager as it might be at the moment) that what I feel for him is definitely real and pure.

I fell completely head over heels in love with Noct and I think he feels the same for me, the look inside his beautiful eyes this evening told me that much, even if he doesn't understand yet where this strong connection between us might originally stem from.

Because he and I already know each other from the inside out, I guess we can forego all the dating stuff. There is no need for us to get to know each other better, nor is there any time or place for us to be all alone and do romantic things together, not when we are on the run from dangerous enemies. So, it's only natural for us, to crave the consummation of this connection as soon as possible. I'm not usually one to think negatively like that, but realistically speaking, who knows for how long we will be able to stay alive in this war... we need to make the most out of it and live our daily lives to the fullest. Now that we've made out so heavily, it's quite obvious, that deep inside, Noct feels the same urgency to seal our bond as I do.

How to proceed? Maybe I should talk with someone about those dreams. I'm sure that Ignis would be able to find a reasonable explanation. Yeah, I can see myself getting some valuable help from him. I can only hope that he'll be open minded enough to listen to my crazy ideas.

Having now found a temporary solution to my most pressing predicament, small Prom, who currently strains and is still aroused beyond help, pulses and stands up for attention, loudly pleading for release. Which brings me back to the amazing make-out session with Noct before.

A heady rush of arousal makes me groan out and I slightly hit the back of my head on the tree behind me a few times in utter frustration with myself.

Hell, I won't lie, right now I _need_ Noct so damn much to finish what he started _it hurts_... my body just can't seem to calm down. Doing it myself seems like cheating to me, so all thoughts of masturbation vanish even before they can manifest in my mushy brain.

Maybe thinking about the events of Niflheim versus Lucis might help out to cool off. At least temporarily. I sincerely hope it will, else I'll melt right here underneath this tree from the terrible heat inside of me and no potions or remedy Ignis possibly comes up with will be able to bring me back to the living.

**...**

Some time later, I finally feel confident enough to quietly walk back to the place where Ignis cooks our evening supper. Gladio seems to have some important conversation with everyone, relating our battle strategy for tomorrow, so I run the last steps to arrive in time to hear the important parts of it, careful not to stumble over my own feet again as I sit down on the empty chair beside Noct.

I'm a masochist. It seems I absolutely love to torture myself, I should have sat on the other empty chair.

Oh for Goddess' sake, please, somebody have mercy with me. Noct's overwhelming presence, as expected, is instantly exciting me again, heating up every single cell in my body. The flames of renewed arousal frolic around my body like furious fireworks. Now that Noct has showered as well, he looks and smells ready to be devoured, and vice versa. Has he any idea of how much I'd love to just jump straight on his lap to smooch the hell out of his smiling lips right now? Probably not. He's thankfully and blissfully unaware of my dirty thoughts as he continues his light banter with Gladio.

To sit so close to him is pure bliss and pure torture simultaneously. I suddenly can feel the power emanating from his skin, the force greeting me with pleasant shocks of arousal, caressing my skin in answer to my secret desires. It calls for me, enticing me, telling me to merge with it. Everything about this power of his feels incredibly familiar to me, it's almost uncanny... But as long as Noct and I didn't talk about, nor figured out the true meaning of this connection, I won't give in. It's one thing to allow hot making-out sessions to happen, but it's an entirely different thing to merge intimately with the power residing inside of him to allow us to manipulate each others life forces.

To distract myself, I join the conversation, or at least I try to keep up with it, because Noct's heady presence right next to me makes it very hard for me to follow. From the corner of my eyes, I can see how Noct leans forward, and my eyes can't help but follow his entire form, hungrily drinking in the sight of how his lean muscles on his back ripple through his dark shirt as he bends down, how his sun-kissed arm reaches for a branch lying on the ground, how his beautiful hand grasps said branch firmly into his palm and how he plays with those long, lean fingers around it as if it were my- phew, okay, I feel small Prom react vehemently to those not so innocent images in my head and I definitely need to stop myself here before I do something stupid, like unconsciously tackling his body to the ground to rub myself on him like a cat in heat.

I shake my head to get that seducing image out of my head, not aware that Noct glances every so often in my direction.

Gulping down some fresh air, I force myself to look the other way, at Ignis, who just now has finished cooking. I watch how he serves each one of us a plate with a healthy portion of this evening's meal.

Let me tell you, the meal smells absolutely heavenly and because of it my stomach grumbles loudly in hunger. Everyone starts to chuckle as soon as they hear that, and I can only grin back at them somewhat embarrassed. To divert their focus, I quickly wish everyone to enjoy their meal before I allow myself to tuck in the food with gusto.

We spend some time eating in relative peace and silence, complimenting Ignis on his cooking skills a few times in between. It's clear that today's battles have been almost bone crushing for everyone, and it's obvious that the tiredness is going to force each one of us to go to bed early.

Well, once again, my eyes do whatever they want to, and my gaze wanders without my conscious permission over to Noct. Heaven help me, I fear I'm obsessed with him, that can't be healthy how often I feel drawn to watch him like a love-sick puppy. He even manages to look utterly attractive while eating. My eyes are fixed on his jaw as he continues to chew and swallow his food and I barely notice how my mouth hangs slightly open like an idiot, completely entranced by everything he does. His Adam's apple moves up and down with each swallow and it might be my imagination only, but his powers seem to flare up, reacting to my secret desires again as if they are trying to jump over to me and I imagine his skin glowing brightly all of a sudden, but once I feel compelled to glance into his eyes, those gorgeous grey-blue eyes of his , they suddenly find me and trap me under their seducing gaze.

Oh crap! Noct just caught me staring.

All right Prom, don't panic. Focus, eat. Now.

I feel my face grow hot and I exhale a sharp breath of embarrassement while scolding myself for losing myself into Noct's essence once again, so I better pull my eyes away for them to stay firmly on my own plate so that I can finish the delicious meal in front of me.

To my luck, I rack my brain and am able to find a good distraction, so I quickly ask the strategic and smart cook, "By the way, Ignis, did you work out a solution to trap the Behemoth tomorrow?"

Ignis' face looks thoughtful, but then he chews and then swallows down his food before answering softly, "Yes, but it's not complete yet. We would have to take some risks and chances. The final part of the trap will be decided upon the area the beast is retreating back to for sleep."

"Heh, I see. You never fail to amaze me at how fast you find loopholes. You know, thanks to your delicious meal I feel like I could take the, uh, Adaman-something head on. What was the name of the big-mountain-whatever-thing we saw a few days ago again, the huge turtle that almost swallowed us up when we entered the Duscae region?" I furrow my eye brows in thought.

Gladio, blessed be his memory, steps immediately in for help, "Adamantoise. Yeah, it's hard for me to admit, but I wager to say you could even win the battle. Comparing your mouth to the creature's mouth, well, I'd like to think the winner should be pretty obvious."

We all start to laugh out loud at his fitting jab to my rambling self.

"I have to give it to you, you got me good this time," I chuckle, punching his arm playfully. "But I can give just as much back. Have you finally asked Cidney out?"

Gladio immediately chokes on his food, coughing a few times before staring at me wide-eyed. "Had I been that obvious?"

Noct rolls his eyes, saying dryly, "No, not at all. Only as obvious as your appreciative glances at her womanly curves can be."

"Only as obvious as your constant chatter about her," adds Ignis immediately, his voice sounding just as dry. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, maybe you'll finally gather some courage to do something to win her heart."

I agree with Noct and Ignis eagerly, nodding my head and grinning brightly from one ear to another. I can't stop myself from teasing Gladio some more, "Yep, go and get her, tiger."

Gladio stutters, splutters on some of his food while trying to salvage some of his manly pride and we all start to laugh at the funny and somewhat adorable expression of love on his face.

As my laughter subsides, I push back my bangs, because the strands of my hair are tickling my nose. So this action is ideal for me to sneak a yearning peek at Noct through my fingers. Would I be a girl, I would definitely start to swoon at the sight of him. Laughing and smiling is very becoming for him. This is why I tease him so often, to see this breathtaking side of him as often as possible.

Noct is beautiful. Not exactly a word you would directly say to a guy in this day and age, but, good looking does not suffice to describe the level of beauty he exudes to me. Add to this his charming side, the one that I oftentimes manage to tickle forth from his ingrained mannered behavior, a delectable and fit body, beautiful formed hands (I love being touched by his hands). Very soft, dark and glossy hair (knowing from experience), those grey-blue eyes (to which I immediately felt drawn the first time I saw him) and those soft lips that are just begging to be kissed (which I did previously and want more of the same). A wicked sense of humor, a big, compassionate heart, and his raw power, which is currently drumming and pulsing and calling for me to submit to it's alluring promises...

As if reading my mind, Noct glances again in my direction, catching me off guard with those beautiful eyes of his. I wonder what he thinks of me now that he caught me a second time staring at him. The fire crackling in front of us highlights his regal, aesthetic features on his face, taking my breath completely away.

Hell... I yearn to kiss and taste him again. So badly.

Avoiding his eyes, my trembling fingers grip the empty plate in my hands hard, the desire to touch him rises once again on blazing levels. I need to stand up to occupy myself with something. With _anything_. So I take my empty plate and intend to go inside the caravan to scrub it clean in the sink installed there.

I can only imagine how tired Ignis must be, that's why I like to help him out whenever I can. He does so much for us, so I at least can only try to give a little bit back. Cleaning the dishes afterward has become my self assigned role, it gives me a good feeling to be of help to everyone. I get a thankful smile from Ignis in return when I walk around his chair with the intent to collect everyone's empty plates.

But as soon as I stand in front of the object of my vicious, boiling hot desires, I almost trip over Noct's feet in my haste, trying to ignore his warm fingers touching mine. I can feel for a few seconds how his thumb gently caresses the back of my hand and my eyes glance up straight into his own intense ones. Which in hindsight I shouldn't have done, because the smoldering look in them makes me lose my shaky grip on the plates in a shock of sharp pleasure. I jump in my own skin when I hear the empty plates clatter down on his feet.

But before I can do anything, Noct already bends down to pick them up. Once he places them back into my shaky hands, his fingers resuming to caress the back of my hands in gentle but heated movements, I know that I'm not dreaming when his gorgeous eyes catch mine to _eat me alive_. My entire body screams to throw caution to the wind and just kiss him senseless.

Goddess in Heaven or whoever you are, please, can Noct and I _please_ go somewhere and _do _something about the heady sexual tension between the two of us? Because I swear I'm about to melt or die on the spot if he touches me one more time.

After some long seconds of awkward silence, Gladio starts talking about the car, joking about some guys that were staring at Cidney earlier today and how he himself scared the crap out of them. I join the laughter for a bit, but then excuse myself quickly into the safety of the caravan.

I close the door behind me and then lean against it for a long minute to let a shaky breath out.

Heaven... my skin tingles everywhere like crazy and it feels so damn sensitive right now, it's like each gentle caress of Noct's hands could make me come in my pants instantly. It's getting embarrassing how turned on I am because of him tonight, I swear I have no control over myself whatsoever.

My eyes land immediately on the only two existing beds inside. One is intended for Gladio and Ignis, and the other one for Noct and myself.

Yeah, without a doubt, this night will be a torture of massive proportions.

I seriously ponder about changing places to sleep on the other bed, either next to Gladio (who would crush me into the wall like a fly, probably) or next to Ignis (his long legs would take up most of the bedside and throw me off the bed, I'm sure of it).

Nope, to both options.

Setting the plates aside at the small table near the sink, I start the water flowing, adding some dish soap which smells of citrus, and then I wait for the sink to fill up. I place the plates into the hot water to let them soak in a bit. As I wait for a while, I hear laughter from the outside and a gentle smile appears on my face.

I simply love hearing my childhood friends have some fun. They deserve every second of happiness, no matter how small, especially after the whole Niflheim fiasco, which happened in our city over a week ago...

To outsiders of Lucis I seem to be incapable of being serious. They think I'm loud, that I fidget here and there without any real purpose in life. They say I'm a simpleton with a clumsy character. They call me "the rebel", "the foreign kid". They fear of how one day I will corrupt Prince Noctis with my irresponsible acts and distract him from his duties as a future King.

And you know what?

They can go fuck themselves several times over. (Noct's words, not mine.)

In the night immediately after Niflheim invasion, leaving a destroyed Insomnia behind, Noct, Ignis, Gladio and myself did run away into hinding. We entered the Duscae region for the first time to look for a temporary, safe place.

At that time, Noct's hands were bound. Revenge was high on his list, but on that night, defeat did take his emotional and mental state almost down. When I saw the sheer pain which almost ate up his sanity, crying, like I've never seen him do before, screaming out his anger at Ignis, cursing the world for his loss of the person he loved the most, the loss of his father, hell... I did cry along with him, sitting on the ground farther back into the shadows, having been careful to not interrupt their serious discussion.

But then, suddenly everything quickly escalated. I've _never_ seen Noct that furious before. The whole area around us was quaking, trembling with his immense power. The ground below us had been shaking, trees were falling down, this furious force inside of him threatened to destroy everything and anyone who ever dared to lay a finger on him. His red glowing eyes have never glown that brightly before as they had on that sad, intense night.

It was this moment, where for the first time in my life, I started to fear him. Not exactly fearing Noct the human himself, but rather fear of the alien force residing inside of him. I no longer saw his powers as something, but as someone. I understood, that they had a consciousness of their own and its attachment on Noct's soul might be related to ancient contracts between humans and higher beings. It was then, that for the first time, I was able to witness with my very own eyes, how overpowering and all-consuming this alien force could be when unleashed to its full potential.

And I understood, that this fear that I felt that night was actually for Noct himself. I was afraid of the power, which was constantly consuming the life out of Noct that night, and this fear compelled me to sit up and to walk to where he stood. Like in a trance, my heart and my body moved on their own, while my brain screamed at me to stop.

Noct was still furious, very much resembling a wild animal, his arms articulating wildly around his body as he screamed and cried out his deep pain.

My heart did go out for him. Before I realized what was happening, my arms moved forward, and when they reached him, they embraced his chest tenderly from behind.

His rage and anger stopped.

Everything around us calmed down. As if my presence, or touch, cancelled his powers out.

After that moment, nobody said a word. We just retreated in silence for the night back into our tent. And there, I held Noct all night long in my arms, while he cried himself to sleep, completely spent.

Over a week has past since then. We all still have not spoken about the things that had occured that night.

But at least I can understand now why it was me, the one who could accomplish what I had back then. I shudder at the thought of what might have happened to Noct, if I hadn't been there for him at that time...

Shaking myself out from my depressing thoughts, I take one plate out of the sink and start to scrub it clean with a wet towel, listening how outside of the caravan Ignis places his kitchen utensils aside, how Gladio folds up the chairs and table, and how Noct places them away one by one where they belong. This moment feels as if this has already become a routine for us. I'm kind of proud of everyone, proud that we managed to survive the aftermath of the destruction as well as we did. I'm honest to Eos glad, that we all have this hope, this faith in ourselves that we can still change something. That not all is lost.

A childish wish appears in my mind all of a sudden. For all of us to never be apart. For this bond and connection between us to last even beyond death.

Well, so far I managed to distract myself successfully, but now I have nothing else that can hold off my heart to start beating madly again. I have nothing else left to distract me with, nothing that can hold off the inevitable.

Sharing the bed with Noct tonight.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I so badly want to share the narrow bed with him. Very, very badly.

It's just... Ignis and Gladio still don't know about the things which transpired between Noct and myself earlier, and neither has the time come to share this with both of them. Am I being selfish? Because everything is still so fresh and new, I want to have this experience all for myself first, only for a little bit longer.

I wash and clean the remaining plates until they glimmer brightly under the artificial light and then I stop to take another towel to dry them off of any water residues. With a heartfelt sigh full of longing, I pat off my hands on the towel to dry them up as well.

Noct...

But then, completely unexpected, all of a sudden the caravan's door opens swiftly and closes quietly afterward.

My heart leaps almost out of my mouth. Without turning around, I already can feel the familiar presence of Noct's powers reaching out to me. In an instant my whole body grows rigid with eager anticipation, goosebumps raising every single hair on my body. I don't dare to turn around, fearing that once I do, I'll not be able to hold my desires back.

But... neither does Noct make a move, nor does he make a sound.

Honestly, my heart just can't take all the excitement of today anymore, and I mean it. I wonder in passing why I'm still standing. Why didn't my body faint already from all the arousing overstimulation it had to and still continues to endure?

Noct's alluring presence stays unmoving and I swallow wetly, squeezing my eyes shut while still waiting for something to happen. Anything.

Long seconds and minutes are flying by, all muscles in my body wound up to a high pitch of pure sexual tension.

But still nothing happens.

I think to myself that, well, if Noct came in here with the intention to initiate something, he would already have done so. He's not the type to hesitate as his earlier actions already indicates.

So I better turn myself around to finally face him. I confess to be dissapointed, nothing happened between us. Not even a very tiny, small and sweet kiss. I prepare myself for the longing and torture to wreak havoc inside of me once again all night as I smile at him and start to talk about the-, oh damn, the towel in my hands flutters on the floor.

Rolling my eyes at my clumsy and nervous self, I bend down to pick the soft and damp material up.

In an instant, I feel Noct almost throw himself at me, grabbing my shoulders in a firm grip to pull me firmly to his body, and I let out a surprised gasp of pleasure when he crushes his demanding lips against mine. I reply with a restrained groan to his need, because I don't know where Ignis and Gladio are at this moment and I fear that they could hear us. But Noct is so damn passionate, so intense with his captivating open-mouthed kisses, that I can't help myself but get louder. His wet and delicious tongue reaches down every part of my mouth while my saliva escapes as my jaw goes slack with want and I submit to his overpowering desire.

Not long after, we need air to breathe and so we stop the ferocious tongue kisses to take a short pause to breathe properly. Without hesitating, Noct uses this opportunity to place his hands on my butt, lifting me up on the surface of the small kitchen counter, and pushes me with a delicious force against the wall behind me. With a raspy groan of his own, he eagerly leans into me, groin pressed against groin, our cloth covered hard arousals aligning. A mewling sound of delight escapes me and I move my arms up in a desperate attempt to hold on to something, but before I can find an object, he captures with one hand both of my own firmly and then he proceeds to hold them high up above my head, gently but stronly pressed against the wall, while his harsh breaths of arousal tickle my face with promises for more pleasures to come.

"_Noct_," I whisper his name against his lips, desperate for him to continue.

As if reading my mind, he tears my shirt suddenly apart with his free hand and, Goddess in heaven, he starts licking, kissing, biting, nipping on my throat, making love to my neck, nipples, skin, everywhere he can reach with his hot demanding lips. Hell, can a human being possibly die of pleasure? Because this is what I fear might happen to me any minute now!

I can't stop an eager moan to come out, I just can't be silent anymore, not when he rubs his groin against mine like that and not when I see how much this act seems to drive Noct even wilder. In an abrupt motion, he lets go of my captured hands to take me hastingly into his arms and he suddenly pulls me down from the counter. I sense his intention, so I circle my legs around his hips impatiently as soon as he moves us a few steps further inside into the caravan. Throwing me on the soft bed which stands behind me, I groan out loud in blissful rapture as he leans the entire length of his firm body down on me. Finally, my hands are able to get a proper feel of him! My hands quiver, touching eagerly, fondling every bit of skin and muscle I am able to reach as we resume kissing in the most consuming and pleasurable way. All soft tongue, wet, hot, desperate and intense.

How long have I been waiting for this day to happen...

Nature forces us to take one moment to catch our breath again. As we look into each others eyes, the blatant love and desire between us makes me completely lightheaded.

Noct looks imploringly into my eyes, seeking for something specific, which it seems he found because he then proceeds to undress my pants, knowing full well that I don't wear anything else underneath. I gasp at the rough fabric as it brushes over my aroused and sensitive skin, the cool air slightly soothing the unbearable heat that I feel, my heart pounding wildly at the thought of him touching me intimately any minute now. My pants, socks and boots are gone in a flash, and Noct suddenly holds onto my naked butt and his lips open wide and, to all that is holy to me, the pleasure is just too much! I can't think, can't breathe!

My back arches and I groan out deeply for more as I feel the wet warmth surrounding my cock, his tongue doing the most sensual things to my oversensitive flesh and his mouth sucking practically my brain out of my skull. Every single shock of pleasure makes my toes curl in the most delicious way possible and I honestly fear to open my eyes in order to see Noct doing all those lecherous and wonderful things to me right now. I fear that this might turn out to be only a dream.

It's somewhat embarrassing, but having my body that aroused and overstimulated already, I can't, I just can't hold off my climax any longer...

"Noct!" I try to warn him that I'm about to come and I pull with my hand slightly against his soft hair.

I can only moan in relief and disappointment as he lets go of my fully engorged member all of a sudden, only for him to tightly fist his slick hand around it, holding off my urge to climax while looking at me intently, watching me breath frantically and then licking over his own sexy lips once.

I feel faint. Eos! If Noct is this intense now, how much more intense will he be once we make love for the first time?

A delightful shudder goes through me and I stretch my arms above my head, writhing under his caressing hands, savouring the mad feelings he instills everywhere inside. Heaven, my mouth already waters at the thought of returning the favor.

I'm staring at him, I know. But the obvious buldge in front of his groin makes me all excited, but just when I want to stand up from my lying position to reach out to his hips, Noct leans down to fully cover my body again, pushing me back deep into the soft mattress under me to kiss my breath away for a short moment. I taste myself a bit on his tongue and curiously, this arouses me more than I would have thought it would do. Groaning softly against my lips, Noct holds himself up to better look into my eyes, breathing heavily.

His cheeks are flushed a gorgeous red from arousal, his body keeps trembling with tremors of want and I just wish to rip his clothes off to finally see and touch every bit of naked skin that lies underneath the leather. I'm completely naked and he has still everything on. That's not fair!

The forefinger of his beautiful right hand, which right now shakes a little bit, caresses a tender trail over my eyebrows, down to my temple and over my cheek, then slowly trailing over my swollen and slightly open lips. His thumb strokes in a shy but ardent way over my bottom lip, pushing on it with the tip, and my lips open themselves with answering desire. His eyes seem to blaze aflame when my tongue slides outward to seduce his thumb further into my mouth. He gasps softly, biting his gorgeous lips in wonder as his captivating gaze never leaves my lips. I swear, this is such an erotic moment between us...

But then, I see him barely holding himself back, and I wonder why? His immense need to have me is unmistakable from the dark and intense look inside of his grey-blue eyes. Is he afraid of crossing some invisible line? Some nonexistent limit?

Pondering this puzzle for a minute, I continue to pleasure his fore finger for now, and when he visibly flinches, as if having just been burnt by my eager tongue, I finally get it.

Noct is afraid of something. Possibly battling with himself over his urge to just take what he desires without any restraint. He worries his beautiful head over what's right and wrong.

Eos, I love him. I truly love him, but if we stop here this evening, I probably will impale myself without any lubrication on him just to get my mad desire for him across!

As my intention grows to follow through with those lewd thoughts of mine, my left hand already reaches for his groin to cup his hard cock through his trousers, my half-lidded eyes throwing lascivious looks at him as my lips catch his fore and middle finger this time, gently biting with my teeth on his skin and pulling them deeper into my mouth with long drawn, seducing movements, sucking oh so slowly and licking with the tip of my tongue around them over and over in simulation of what I would want to do to his cock, hoping that he gets my point and finally _does_ something.

"Noct, _please_!" I whisper against his wet fingers. Inhaling sharply as he starts to rub himself on my hand, my body gets that heavily turned on that right now that I don't care what kind of joining we have, loving or fucking, soft or hard, from the front or from behind, on the floor or out in the open for everyone to see. I seriously don't give a damn. Hell, as long as we get down to business I'm all good.

While sucking the damp skin almost off from his finger, there is finally a conscious reaction from him. A low warning growl and then, Noct finally lets me observe how much my seducing ministrations affects his body, his eyes darkening, his breath speeding up as he pushes his cock harder against the palm of my hand. He closes his beautiful, feary eyes firmly, furrowing his sexy eyebrows as if being deeply troubled by his decision, beads of perspiration appearing on his forehead as he gasps once for air, and all of this happens while I still continue to play with my wicked tongue around his erogenous and already abused fingers some more.

Damn it Noct, I can't wait, I want you!

As if reading my mind, he seems to snap out of it, clearly not caring for his set limitations anymore. Having reached a final decision, at once I feel Noct lifting my hips up to firmly turn me around and I cry out completely surprised when I face the pillow instead.

What is he doing?

I take a curious, eager look behind my shoulder, but what I see there makes me almost come then and there! Absolutely nothing compares to the raw hunger which I can clearly identify inside those beautiful eyes of his! I try to swallow down a keen sound which desperately wants to leave my throat. Is there such a thing like fucking someone with one's eyes? Because, dear Eos in heaven, this is what Noct does to me right now!

"Noct!" I cry out for him, my hand already sneaking down my body because I can't hold off from touching myself anymore. Feeling anguished with anticipation, my head turns back to let my forehead rest on the soft pillow below, squeezing my eyes tightly shut only this time to find myself panting with an overwhelming need, my head reeling and heady, my body hot and ready only from the sheer thought alone of Noct penetrating me any time now.

Not one moment later, I feel him spread my upper legs apart, lifting my hips up in a swift but firm movement, and then Noct does something absolutely unbelievable to me. Something wet wiggles against my entrance, diving his wicked tongue in small, short and spearing movements against the ring of muscles until they get pliant under his pleasureable ministrations and allow him further access.

Hell, I won't lie, right now I am sobbing, writhing on the sheets as I push back in an eager attempt to feel his hot tongue deeper inside, clutching at the pillow as firmly as I can and completely forgetting my surroundings!

Noct explores hungrily, the tip of his tongue traces the sensitive area many, many times, wetting every bit of skin with his saliva, lapping and licking and his lips sucking, and hell! He breaches my entrance simultaneously with a slick finger to almost pierce me into the mattress with quick thrusts, rubbing against something inside that gets me moaning in longing for more. I somehow fail to hold onto the sheets for my dear life, my hands trying to hold onto the headboard or anywhere, really, because I feel like losing the thread to this reality in a rapid manner from pleasure overload! Never in a million years would I have imagined Noct doing something lewd and almost forbidden like this. I never knew that having his tongue and finger penetrating me like that would feel so amazing. It's turning me on like nothing before and I'm about to combust!

Just when I thought it doesn't get any better, he adds a second finger and as soon as he continues to rub that ultra-sensitive place inside of me, I let out a guttural, deep groan, biting my lower lip shockingly at the embarrassing tone of my voice. This was not my voice, or was it?

As if needing to hear this raspy sound again, Noct intensifies his passionate ministrations, pushing the tip of his tongue inside even harder, this time as far as his tongue can reach in, then pushes out, then in, then out again, his thrusts of his fingers getting faster and harder and I almost scream in rapture when one of his hands grasps my leaking cock to stroke it once, twice, and I finally reach the climax my body and mind craved for all day!

The shocking orgasm is almost painful in its intensity, stealing everything from me, my breath, my voice, my eyesight! Nothing else remains, only the quivering shocks of intense pleasure that are overwhelming me into giving in to fainting. My hot body shivers like crazy, I see stars infront of my eyes and the immense pleasure just doesn't stop, because Noct's unique powers seem to be assisting him in doing more than just licking and kissing me everywhere at once. His ministrations feel like an ongoing, nonstopping orgasm, and I can only lie there helplessly on the sheets under him, unmoving but still shaking and groaning in bliss, because all of this is _too good_, and _too much... _and with this last thought of my delirious mind, I finally give in for the unconsciousness to take me.

...

To be continued.


	3. The Astral Gate-Noctis POV-Part 2

**AN:** Hey everyone!

First things first:

Youwan: thank you so much for taking your time to reply :)! I appreciate it. You were right, of course. I realized only after reading your suggestions, that I overdid with "..." and "-" xD. Probably because I wanted Prompto to differ in contrast to Noct. Seeing as he is more emotional and extroverted, haha. Thanks to you the second chapter flows much better, I'll give my best to improve ;)! I hope you like the third chapter as well. Enjoy!

ben4kevin: hey, thanks again, I'm glad you are still with me in this, ha! Have fun with the third chapter, hoho.

Good Luck: wow, thank you very much for your time! All that I can say is that I fully intend to finish this story. At first I intended to start writing some sexy scenes between those two, having no substantial idea of a full plot. But after writing the second chapter I now know where to take them. So, yup, I won't abandon this, it's very good practice. Wish you well for your private life :), take care of yourself.

LisAlice5472: Oh! Thanks so much for both of your reviews, loved to read them :D! I am so glad to hear you like my writing style so much, at first I was unsure if I should write in point of view or the regular way. I think point of view is one of my strenghths, with it I can write out Noct's and Prompto's personalities much better and I enjoy to "channel" their characters "live" out their story. And lol at Ignis and Gladio catching them in the act, it's your fault, haha! Enjoy the 3rd chapter, my dear.

every reader: thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter :D.

**Warnings:** yaoi (m/m sex), rimming, mild language

(the animal in Noct is waking up again, fufufuu)

...

**Chapter 2: The Astral Gate - Part 2**

Placing a light kiss on Prompto's shoulder, I raise myself up on my shaky knees to take a better look at him, caressing gently over his soft and sweaty skin on his back.

I take a deep breath. I would be lying when I say, that having seen him literally faint just now before my eyes didn't scare me. It scared me that much, that I can feel my intense arousal lessen by the minute. I might have overreacted a little bit. Okay, maybe a lot. Definitely more, than I have initially intended.

Biting my bottom lip in worry, I feel anxious and a tiny bit ashamed of myself at my lack of self control.

I stand up to cover his exhausted body with the soft blanket, that is lying crumpled beside him, kissing the side of his face tenderly. Then walk back to the sink to fill up a cup of water, first to rinse out my mouth, and then to pour more water in, for him to drink when he comes back to consciousness.

On my left side there is a small cupboard. I open it's door to take a fresh towel from the inside, wet the fabric with cold water and then make my way back to Prompto. I sit down next to him to start wiping softly with the damp cloth over his overheated skin and then clean off the sweat from his forehead. And while I look at his peaceful face with a tender look in my eyes, I recall how all of this got started ...

Back when I was still standing by the door, nervously debating with myself on how to go on with my plans, the dissapointed expression in his eyes has immediately helped to leash out my restrained sexual appetite. On full scale.

After I stopped thinking too much, I was practically throwing myself at him, ready to devour his entire being at one go. Only after that crushing kiss that followed, did I fully realize, that he expected me to ravish him on the spot all along. And I did exactly that.

How I loved the sensual sounds he made, pressing his trembling body against mine, this scent of his that even now drives me absolutely crazy. But what I loved the most, was to suck, kiss, bite and lick all over his delectable skin. His taste is so addicting to me ...

And with this, I discovered a side of myself this evening, that has shocked me to the core.

Such an unfathomabel hunger, a carnal lust, has taken hold of my mind back then, it was robbing me almost of my whole inner being. I truly did fear to completely loose my mind. I fought with all my might against the arising force inside of me, that threatened to overcome my good judgement and take my sanity with it. If I hadn't fought as hard as I did, it would have forced my body to claim Prompto without my very own consent. For me, that would have been equivalent to rape. Well, I don't think that Prompto personally would have minded terribly, if my body was taking him in his delirious state - he was absolutely out of it with want and more than ready - my tongue made sure of that. But when the time comes to consumate our mutual desires, then I want to be in control of the entire situation. In complete control of myself.

Prompto's bold efforts, to seduce me into fucking him into the mattress until the bed beneath us broke in half, didn't escape my notice. But, he couldn't have known, what kind of inner struggles I had to overcome first, not to break ourselves apart instead ...

And now I find myself in a desperate need to get more information about the alien power residing inside of me. As soon as possible. I have absolutely no idea, how to fully control it's being. The only thing I seem to manage so far, is to repress and battle it into submission - at least this works for a short amount of time.

When counting up how many times the force has been trying to overcome my human mind for the past week, I am afraid, from now on it will only get much worse. This is seriously ending every single time in a furious battle of wills. And I don't know, if I'll be strong enough, to overcome the repeating attempts to take over. Having no real knowledge of it's essence, nor of it's true origin.

Well, it's self-evident, that there is a deeper connection to Prompto and that the power I have been born with is sharing a major affinity with him, one of a sexual nature ...

I stop my thinking for a moment, to caress his face. A relieved sigh escaping me, when I hear him moan lightly and then see him opening his beautiful eyes slowly to look around.

"Hey.", I whisper in greeting.

He is slowly rolling on his back and smiling weakly at me. "Hi.", he whispers in reply with a rasp voice.

I furrow my brows in worry, while resuming to caress his face, then ask him: "Is everything alright? How do you feel?"

"Hmmh, let's see ... I feel like I have been tongue-fucked by Noct several times over.", he says, smirking cheekily at me.

I let out an embarrassed laugh at that. "I apologize. I have overdone it."

I get a horrified look from him in return. "Overdone? Noct. Please! No guilty feelings." He is taking my hand into his right one to kiss and lick the knuckles there, while looking lasciviously into my eyes, letting out a sensual groan. "God ...! I loved it, I loved everything you did! Every minute of it. It was amazing. Mind-blowning. Really." He is smiling sheepishly at me. "It's all that I can think about at the moment. You fried my brain."

I lean down to him, relief visible on my face, to kiss him on his pouty lips once. Then I stand up to get him the cup of water that I have prepared.

While I assist him to drink a few sips, I realize how tired we both are, whilst full on ignoring my arousal that his words have caused to swell up again. "We should probably sleep for now, we need every bit of energy for tomorrow." I say to him, yawning a little.

"Yeah, you are right ... oh, by the way, where are Ignis and Gladio?"

"Well, a few hours ago I had a conversation with Ignis about you and me. Because he has already figured out by himself about the obvious attraction between the two of us."

His eyes grow large. "Ignis did notice? ... wait, dumb question, of course he did. I guess, I wasn't sneaky enough. So. What did he say?"

"To summarize, he said "Do whatever you feel is right." to me, and this means he is okay with both of us doing the things we do.", I reassure him, but at the same time feeling my cheeks blush in embarrassment. Well, this is the first time we speak openly about -this- whatever we are doing.

"Oh. Good. Very good ... I started to worry." He is then sending me a warm smile. "Noct. I like what we do. For several weeks did I wish for us to touch intimately. I look forward to more ...", he finishes, a hungry look in his eyes. I gulp down my embarrassment to make room for desire once more. And after several long moments, where we just look intently in understanding into each others eyes, he suddenly seems to remember something, facing away to the empty bed beside us and to ask me confused: "So, you did not explain where those guys are. How come we are all alone?"

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, take the damp towel from before, shove the blanket aside to reveal a very exposed and sexy Prompto, and start to clean him off of the sweat and semen. I can hear him purring in a sensual way at my ministrations and I lean forward near to his face to whisper with a mischievous grin on my face: "During my shower, I thought desperately on how to get you alone for a bit. And later, after you left to clean the plates, ..."

_"Ignis, do you have a moment?"_  
_I look up at Ignis nervously, my heart close to beating it's way out of my throat. What I'm about to ask him is very personal and I don't know how he's going to react to the fact, that I want some time alone with Prompto to literally sex out the sexual tension out of us. If we stay the way we are now, tomorrow we wouldn't be able to focus on our battles at all._

_From the expression on his face, he seems to have a hunch of what's on my mind already, but says nothing, not until we are some distance away from Gladio's hearing range. "I am suprised it took you that long to come to me."_

_I blink up at him, taken aback. "You are?"_

_"Indeed. It was almost unbearable to watch you two dance and tip-toe frivolously around each other this evening. Too many volatile fireworks errupting between the two of you. Their colourful sparks were threatening to crack up my glasses and hurting my fragile eyes in return." he says with a dead serious expression on his face._

_I roll my eyes at him, my nervousness lessening._

_"I knew in an instant, that Gladio and myself would need to make ourselves scarce sometime sooner rather than later." Scratching lightly under his chin thoughtfully, he adds amused: "Otherwise the entire situation would become extremely explosive, and I am not sure I would want to stay to witness the multi-coloured climax."_

_I punch him softly into his shoulder. "Smart-ass." I say dryly, and he gives me a tiny smirk in reply. Then I ask him in a hopeful manner: "Well, I would need roughly about an hour to be alone with him. Is this doable?"_

_He nods. "You are lucky. I have something up my sleeve." Then he motions with his hand, for me to follow him in Gladio's direction. "Watch and learn." he says in a soft voice and is sending me a conspiratory smirk._

_I raise my left eyebrow in amusement, curious to see what he means. So I do follow behind him as he is nearing a clueless Gladio._

_I let out a whistle in suprise, when I see Cidney suddenly appearing and walking in our direction. Then look astonished back at Ignis, to say: "Consider me impressed." He has done very well. "You have to tell me tomorrow, how you managed to persuade her into your scheme. Thanks Ignis, I owe you one." I pat on his shoulder gratefully. He just smiles back at me and walks over to Cidney to greet her. I can see from here, how excited Gladio is to see her - lucky guy._

_And now it's my turn. _

_I make my way back to the caravan, and imagine myself looking cool, as I throw a willing Prompto over my shoulder, drawing the same tableau of myself, as those ancient stone age-cave men always looked like, carrying proudly their wives around to show their prowess to the world. _

_... and as they once did, I'll throw his sexy butt on the soft bed, then I intend to make him scream._

"He did what? Wow, this was absolute genius! I am sure that Gladio will forever be thankful to Ignis if he ever finds out the truth. Haha!"

Prompto is now fully laughing outloud and I feel myself grinning widely in return. "Right? We shall never forget to fear Ignis - he now knows of our deepest weakness as well: undressing ourselves with the eyes." I joke while holding with my fingers my eyes wide open and joining his laughter.

Prompto truly is handsome, his straight white teeth inviting me to kiss his breath away once more, the adam apple on his soft looking throat bobbing up and down sensually in laughter, his pale smooth chest trembling, and his pink nipples standing errect - enticing me to nibble on them, tempting me to lick him all over.

Being drawn to him like a magnet, I lean my head down to his chest to do exactly that. He is gasping out loud when my tongue is lapping over his sexy nipples very slowly, then I suck greedily on each one. His initial surprise turns into a deep moan and I lean further up into him, until I can almost touch his pouty lips with mine again, face to face, my breath speeding up once more as my eyes look lustfully into his.

"Mnnh ... Noct, please, no more deep kisses, I beg of you.", he whispers, "Or I am forgetting myself and will eat you up ... and for this we don't have enough time left." I hear the longing in his voice and a tiny little hint of warning. But his eyes are telling me to kiss him deeply anyway.

Dear God, I love that he is so sensitive, reacting every time whenever I'm close to him. His needy vibes doing incredible things to my insides, that in return provoke me to act on my unstoppable urge to tackle and have hot and heavy sex until we can't stand up anymore.

I don't know what exactly is coming over me - I fully intended for us to go to sleep - but all of a sudden i want to taste him again. To have just a few more, little, innocent bites of his delicious skin ...

So I allow myself to fall back down on him, for my body to strech out fully on his, and I hear a loud moan coming from him, the sound shooting directly into my groin, and suddenly his lips come forcefully up to meet mine. His hands grasping my head firmly and then kneading my lips in ferocious need. I didn't even had the chance to initiate the kiss myself this time around and he is already devouring my mouth with a great passion. I moan in reply into his mouth, wanting more, because I love his boldness. His tongue is searching out mine and we engage in a stormy lustful kiss, ravenously and thirsty of ourselves, only to fail to satisfy or quentch each longings. Instead, all it does, is fuelling our mutual ecstasy for each other on several higher planes. I feel him spreading his legs apart, and I adjust my postion to align our hips once again. He doesn't miss a beat and starts immediately to circle his legs around my hips and to push his groin up to meet my own, rubbing his aroused member sensually against mine.

All the while my tongue is playing hungrily with his own, diving deep down into his mouth cavern - in and out - again and again - until we get lightheaded. Then I keep up the thorough sucking on his lips, bite down gently and then pull slowly with my teeth on his full bottom lip, showing him how much I crave him. I think he is as madly aroused again as I am, because he is breathing in and out very heavily and the delightful sounds that come out of his hot mouth become louder and louder by the minute.

I groan out in response to his growing desires, press myself more firmly into his inviting body and start to caress, stroke and massage firmly over his soft and bare skin as far as I can reach. His hot hands are diving demandingly under my shirt, pulling it up as far as he can, as he is stroking and almost clawing at the bare skin on my back with his fingers, moaning deeply whenever my hips rotate in a sinful way over his hard arousal and suddenly I feel so hot all over, sweat is breaking out of my skin. I wish to remove all of my clothes, they keep interfering with enjoying his glorious naked skin under mine.

With a closer look at him, I dedicate myself on his alluring throat once more. He breathes unevenly, erotic sounds escaping his throat, letting me know how much I do arouse him. I keep on getting high on his taste, he is like an aphrodisiac. One, of that I just cannot get enough of no matter how often I lick him all over. He does totally surrender to my actions, delightful pleasure written all over his flushed face. And good God, his short soft groans, mewling sounds, prolonged moans and the thoughts of him being all naked under me are making me absolutely wild!

I need more of him!

Now both of us are getting impatient, as he is pulling my shirt with eager hands up, stopping the kissing with a sinful groan and begging me with his eyes to let him undress me. I immediately lift myself up, his hands pull out my shirt over my head, I throw it carelessly somewhere behind me, meanwhile he works eagerly on opening my trousers, already sneaking his hot hand into my underpants to grip my fully aroused member and in an instant a passionate sob escapes me, setting my whole body on fire, because I finally have him touch me there and it feels so incredible ...

And then, there is a knocking sound on the door.

We stop to look in panic into each others eyes.

Prompto is quickly taking his hand out of my underpants, closing my trousers again, and I position myself hastingly on the bed right next to his side to cover both of us fully with the blanket. "Wait ..." Prompto whispers in a hurry and leans down to his bedside to pick up our scattered clothes one by one - while I get to enjoy the view of his wonderful backside and a glimpse of his errect and delicious looking arousal - to set them somewhat orderly aside. He is then helping me out of my boots, setting them down on the floor and then finally crawling quickly back under the blanket, drawing it up to his chin, still stark-naked. He is caressing under the blanket over my clad member teasingly and I get a chuckle from him in return to my hungry expression on my face.

God, not now! My need for him has grown to such insane levels, that I am that close to let us get caught, I just want to rub myself recklessly all over his body until we both reach the climax we crave.

We hear suddenly more knocking, and Gladio is talking excitedly with Ignis outside by the door. This probably means that Ignis did warn us on the first knock, to give us a chance to dress ourselves and rearrange everything. Well there was not much to rearrange, but one of us is not quite dressed yet underneath that fluffy blanket. I am truly glad at this moment, that Ignis already knows about us.

I lift myself up to give Prompto a quick hot kiss, engaging his swollen lips with mine lustfully, his hand sneaking to touch my arousal and making me wild as I push my hips into his kneading and rubbing fingers. We groan out for more, both refusing to stop.

But then I need to draw back, my entire form rigid with excitement, reluctant to let go of him, panting very hard, as I take a final good look at him. Good God, he looks so thoroughly kissed and so sensual to me right now. He is licking with the tip of his tongue over his lower lip, his hair ruffled and making him even more sexy, and when I meet his blue eyes they are positively begging me to kiss him one more time. His hand still rubbing teasingly over my clad hard flesh.

"Prompto, please, quit looking at me like that, or else I'll take you right here, right now!", I whisper in sheer hunger for him, pressing my forehead against his. But he is only pulling me forcefully into him and his eyes are flashing with intent to be devoured by me, and God help us, with a deep groan I let my body fall further into him again and I force myself to give only one final firm kiss on his open lips. But then he is moaning out louder into my mouth, and his lips are following me all the way down as I draw back, his upper body now fully lying down on my chest, uncontrollable desire clouding our minds, and we deepen the kiss again, all wet and heated tongue, spreading fervidly our saliva all over our lips only to lick it away after and start all over again. Neither one of us wanting to part away from each other.

We moan out in dissapointment as I clentch my teeth to literally wrench my intensely excited body away from him, pushing him back, turning myself over to the other side of the bed, facing the wall in unadulterated despair and do what I can do best: pretend to sleep.

Damn it!

I punch the wall once in frustration.

I can hear Prompto chuckling slightly at my silly reactions, before Ignis is knocking once more on the door and is stepping inside only shortly after with a probably lovestruck Gladio on his tail.

Gladio is clearing his throat and I can hear him whispering to Prompto: "Psst, is Noct asleep?" Sweet Prompto answers, whispering in reply: "Yeah, he was not well ..."

What can I say, even if it is only half-true, his excuse is very fitting for my current condition. I'm indeed not well. My burning arousal is bordering on killing me here, lips tingling as I still taste Prompto on my lips, already missing his touch to finish what he has started. And my entire body is vibrating with this deep pulse of craving, from the knowledge, that sexy Prompto would have to sleep all nude all night beside me.

So I close down my eyes very tightly, forcing myself to stop feeling, to stop thinking and to push myself to fall asleep.

...

I open my sleepy eyes and stare confused up at the ceiling above.

Oh, right.

It's time for my favorite part of nighttime. I prepare myself mentally to stay awake for a few hours once again.

It's almost completely dark in the caravan and I can hear Prompto's deep breathing beside me, he must be sleeping very soundly. I must have been really tired to have fallen asleep in an instant, because I don't remember what happened after Ignis and Gladio came in and when exactly they have gone to sleep.

I rise my hands up to hide the lower part of my face, to groan out as silently as possible into them, in absolute frustration!

My own sleep, cut short from my inability to sleep deep, did exactly nothing to elevate my ferocious burning arousal, that I have been going to sleep with. It is still fully errect, still craving for attention, as if having a mind of it's own, and my whole body is throbbing with this incessant deep need for Prompto's touch.

To have him lying here right next to me, his entire delicious looking body in his nude glory, does nothing to dampen my craving for him, for his lips, for his hands, for his skin. I bite my lips in desperate thought, and ask myself what to do. Nothing can happen here. Not with Ignis and Gladio sleeping tightly next to our bed. I can see only one option, for me to stand up and to go outside. Either to cool off on my own (which is doubtful) while taking a walk around the gas station, or I'm going to finally touch myself to relieve my pressing need ...

So I lift myself up from my lying position, trying to be very silent, as I sneak around and over a sleeping Prompto, careful to not touch him, not to wake him up. I take my boots from the ground and tiptoe my way out of the caravan, and then silently closing the door behind me.

Once outside, a huge sigh is escaping me and I breathe in deeply the fresh air. I take my boots to loosely tie them up, after sliding each one on my feet inside. Having no longer a shirt on, I feel a bit on the cold side, goosebumps making themselves felt all over my bare upper body. But I don't mind, as it feels kind of refreshing.

And so I take a slow walk around the caravan, my hands deeply buried inside of my trouser pockets, having no real destination in mind. I then look around me to take in my surroundings and admire the sparkling stars above. The full moon is shining beautifully and brightly, it is silent all around me, the air smells clean and incredible, so I strech out my back and arms wide in pleasure.

The only one who is missing, is Prompto by my side. I would love to make hot and heavy love with him outside on a night like this. And at this thought I remember instantly our previous greedy make out session, especially the last part, and I groan out my longing for him. Honestly. He was making me so wild yesterday, that I was only one short step away from throwing my inhibitions to hell and claim him against the wall! With Ignis and Gladio watching! Never before have I been that sexually seduced and stimulated.

An immense spark of desire is shooting through my groin at the thought of him. Alright. I need to definitely touch myself now, because I won't calm down otherwise.

I walk further into the protective shadows of the trees and bushes and sit myself down on the grassy ground to lean back on a trunk of the tree nearest to me, taking a last look around to make sure no one else is out there.

I make myself comfortable and then groan out in pleasure, as my hands travel all over my bare chest, softly caressing over my cool skin, heating it up, and my hands stop to pinch my nipples in yearning. This is what I would want to do to Prompto's body, so I do imitate every single caress, every hard pinch and every erotic touch, as if it were his skin instead. The warm palms of my hands are stroking more demandingly by the minute, over my throat, my neck, back down over my sensitive skin on my chest, and I can feel myself getting more and more aroused, ready for my hands to travel further down.

God, I wish Prompto were here. My whole being is longing for him again, calling him, craving after the intense pleasure only he himself can give. I remember the sensual kisses, his scent, the sounds he made, the taste of his pale skin ...

I almost sob aloud at the memory of my tongue, teasing and licking on his sensitive skin between his sexy buttocks, of his erotic reactions to my wet licking and sucking ..., while my trembling fingers are now opening the button of my trousers. I lift my hips up to pull all the fabric down to my knees. The leaking head of my member in front of me is glistening lightly with drops of precum, as it is throbbing nearly painfully with heavy excitement, hungry for any kind of stimulating touches. And then I tease myself with the top of my fingers, still thinking of Prompto, flluttering them lightly over my groin, over my inner thighs, then press my spread fingers to caress every inch of sensitive skin there. I allow myself to moan and close my eyes in in my need for more, as I don't think that anyone can hear me at this hour anyway.

But then I instantly stop my movements.

... I can feel a human presence near me, watching me.

Opening my eyes, I squint them to take a subtle look around, inwardly hopeful that Prompto has followed me here.

There! Now I see a glimpse of blond hair, hiding behind a tree a few steps away from where I am sitting. I smile in relief, my heart beating in excitement and then let my hands continue with pleasuring myself. From him hiding behind that tree, I take it, that he wants to watch me ...

Well, sexy voyeur, take a good look at me. Maybe I can lure you out of your hiding place.

I resume to caress myself, overdoing it a little, so that my spectator can see my movements and hear my voice better. Then I take my hand to reach out to grasp my errect member firmly and I start to stroke myself leisurely, breathing louder in excitement. My eyelids shut down on their own and I lean my head back against the tree to fully savour the intense feelings inside of me. Dear God, having him here near me arouses me madly, knowing that he watches me so intently and in turn arouses his body as well. I tease myself with yesterdays images of the intense making out sessions, licking over my dry lips to wet them, as they open wide to let out a keen sound.

The strokes become quicker and more eager, precum wetting the palm of my hand and a deep long moan is escaping me, as my wet palm is gliding with more pressure up and down on my errect and slippery skin and I loose myself into my fantasies of thoroughly devouring my sexy voyeur. The arousal is now growing once more to unbearable levels, that I first don't even notice Prompto coming over silently, going down on his knees and shock me into an intense pleasure as he is stilling my hand, shoving it gently aside, grasping my fully engorged member into his own hand and wrapping his pouty lips around the head.

God! I need to cry out, because I never felt something pleasureable like this before! My hands reach out to his soft hair, grasping the back of his head, as he is starting to move his head up and down on my flesh. No teasing, just the warmth of his mouth instantly enveloping me, his sensual tongue lavishing again and again over my oversensitive skin around the head of my arousal, over the slit there to lick all the fluid off, making me absolutely mad for more! With a deep groan I lift on instinct my hips up, and move at the same time as he is taking me in deep inside of his wet and hot mouth, pressing his lips hard when going down and sucking firmly whenever he goes up, and dear God, this feels so incredible. My back arches into the trunk of the tree behind me, because I feel myself very close to climaxing. A prolonged, loud moan escapes me as Prompto intensifies his licking and sucking and is suddenly taking me fully, deep throating my arousal!

Heaven! "Prompto!" I cry out to warn him, but my reaction does seem to make him even more eager to go on, pressing his tongue on all the right places, licking my member again and again, sucking harder, and harder, and deep throating me again, and I just can't hold on anymore as my orgasm overwhelms me entirely and I tense up with a guttural cry!

For a moment I feel like floating, riding out the most intense pleasure any climax has ever given me. All the while noticing, that Prompto is gulping down my come. Good God, how I love him! My hands instantly pull his head up to face me, I do not even care that he still has my semen on his lips, as I crash my own down against his to kiss him fiercly! He is letting out a suprised cry, that transforms instantly in a groan full of pleasure, as I take a hold of him and forcefully plant him on my lap without breaking the deep tongue kiss for one second, needing to touch and feel him all over me. Only now do I realize, that he is totally naked, because his bare and hard arousal is suddenly is touching mine.

And dear God! I feel suddenly so ravenous, that my hands grasp his buttcheeks apart to pull him completely against me and I start to rotate my still errect member against his, spreading his buttocks further apart with my fingers and kneading them harder, the wet head of my arousal rubbing eagerly against the place where I intend to take him soon. Not tonight, as we have nothing here to prepare him properly. He is gasping out loud, breaking the kiss to bend his back and lean his head sensually sideways and I immediately attach my lips on his delectable throat. I lick, I bite, I suck on his tender skin until he is moaning uncontrollably now and calling my name over and over. His kissable swollen lips are open, eyes glassy, cheecks flushed as he is breathing hard and rubbing himself all over me and good God! Something seems to snap inside of me, because I need to taste him! Badly!

I want to make him scream once more! I push him from my lap down onto the grassy ground, yank my boots and trousers to throw them quickly aside and then resume my intent to eat him alive. His flushed chest from arousal is heaving frantically, spreading his legs apart as he is inviting me to consume him whole. My hands push his legs up, his knees on his chest, as I go down on him once more to tongue-pierce him into heaven! I take first his hard arousal firmly into my mouth to return the favor for a moment. I love the musky scent on him, love the bitter taste of his precum, I cannot get enough. He is moaning relentlessly, trying with his hands to hold onto something, on anything, as I lick my way down to his anus to follow thorough with my intention. I lift his hips up to me, supporting his back with my own knee, and with my wet tongue I salivate and lick all over the hole to moisten his errogenous skin there, the tip of my tongue pushing slowly inside, only to take it out again, licking his skin sensually a few times and then return to push deeper into his quivering flesh.

Prompto is now constantly crying out with pleasure, holding his thighs apart, his back bend backwards and panting hard. As an answer to his lustful cries my tongue reaches even further inside every time I draw back and push in, moving the muscle around and streching and moistening and sucking and driving him completely wild. I halt my ministrations for one second, to take my middle finger into my mouth to moisten it as well and without waiting any longer I push it slowly in, rotating a bit and pushing further and further inside. I can now hear him sobbing with a deep hunger for a proper penetration, pressing his backside into my finger very eagerly as I get down on him again, to lick with my flexible tongue slowly up my way to his engorged and red member, only to engulf him wholly into my mouth once more. And God! The sounds he makes when my finger reaches his prostate, rubbing over and over. "Noct! Please! Ahhhnnn, more, God, please, don't stop!"

His cries and taste make me so heady, wanting to please him even more intensely, and I redouble my efforts to make him truly scream as my lips close around his hard flesh more tightly and I begin to suck on him in earnest, all the while speeding up my finger to penetrate him literally into the ground! I think he is honestly crying right now in bliss, I have not seen this side of him yet, because he is worshipping my name and cursing at the same time until he reaches an absolute explosive climax, filling my mouth hotly with his seed, and takes my arousal with vehemence with him as I reach my own!

Good God ...

I cannot breathe for a moment, staggering fully on my knees, my second orgasm this night totally taking me by surprise. I lay myself down next to an almost crying Prompto. I feel his shaking body embracing mine weakly, moaning and sobbing and holding me very close, while I kiss him very gently, careful to not hurt the abused skin on his lips.

This was unbelievable ...

We just caress softly over our hot skin, kiss and lick tenderly the sweat from each others upper lips and faces and savour in sated silence the impassioned experience we just have been through.

...

My eyes open instantly in shock, aware that something is not right, that something feels not normal. I stand up quickly, only to look down confused at my clad body.

Wait.

I know for a fact, that I shed my trousers and boots, so my body must be naked. I take a look at my surroundings, feeling every vibration of this place reverberate inside my blood cells.

Where am I?

I start walking, surprise on my face, as I feel immensely energized, that I can think very sharply and that my senses are streching beyond what I am used to see, feel, hear, taste and touch. I jump a bit on the ground beneath me, as it gives off colourful reflections.

Someone is calling my name. I look in the direction of the voice and gasp out loud as I see who is standing there, waiting for me.

A middleaged man is then walking towards me with a wide smile, tears in his eyes. He is opening his arms wide to embrace me fiercly and I feel a love so strong in my heart, that I instantly start to cry. Hot tears flowing down my cheeks and soaking up the garment of this man.

"My son! Finally we can meet. I am so proud of you!"

I cry out like a small kid that I probably still am deep inside, when he is confirming his identity to me, grounding me in my belief of whom I am embracing right now and I can only hold onto him in palpable relief at meeting him here, never believing of ever seeing him again.

"Father ...!"

...

Thank you for reading :), see you all in the next part!


	4. The Astral Plane - Noctis POV

**AN:** Hey everyone!

I hope you are well :). I can't seem to be able to distance myself from this story, haha, it's the only thing that I can think of at the moment. The plot has captivated me and I need to write every day, even when I have so much to do and so many obligations waiting for me. Uff, I seriously slept for the last week only three to four hours the night, only to have time for writing my ideas down, so I really, really hope you all do enjoy reading it so far, the same as I do enjoy the writing.

As you will see, from this chapter onward, the universe of FFXV inevitably changes into unknown territory - I wish we would finally see some glimpses of the videogame's true story! And the names of the antagonists, I only know of Eldercapt, but what about the hood-guy, and what about the black haired beauty? What about the red-haired guy? Uff, I need to invent some names for them and replace those when we do know more about the characters. At least I'll try to make the plot big, conspiratory, as fantastic as I am sure the final game will be, ha. So, enough said for now, have fun with this chapter.

** ben4kevin: **ha, I know, right? I'll try to insert as many sexy-cute scenes with Noct as possible, because I think in "real-life" in game he would be the same. A tad on the passionate side, but when confronted with serious/fun/sad things more unsecure of himself. Please enjoy this chapter.

** Youwan: **hey, thank you again for your long review. And please do not worry about your English, I understand perfectly what you say :)! Well with POV I meant to split it between Noct and Prompto into one chapter, the plot needs to go on now and there are scenes where both of their views are important for the plot to deepen. As for Ignis POV it was just an idea, seeing that the guy reacts so funny - but after writing the fourth chapter I am not sure it will be a good idea anymore. It doesn't fit anymore. So, only Noct and Prompto POV from now on, as it is -their- story ;). Have fun reading!

** Lis Alice5472: **oh, is it really that rare for an author to reply to reviews? I come from the artist's scene and there it is very usual to answer on viewer's comments. I simply love to learn about the people who read/enjoy my work, this is why I seek to converse with them, listening to ideas or their advice, so you are welcome, no fainting please xD! I had to laugh out loud at your reactions to Noct touching himself, etc. And YES, I am definitely a big fan of Noctis - how did you know that?! I tried to keep this to myself .. and failed, haha. For me he is Squall's reincarnation, only upgraded, firmware 2.0 xD. Love that Noct isn't depressed and lonely, but a super cool guy (well, he tries to be) and he -can- laugh when he wants, ha. He is totally my type ... so, yup, I share the same fascination with you ;). And about the fandom's stories, yes, this is one of the reason of why I wanted to contribute my own ideas, because I myself am mature and haven't really found a (finished) story yet that is exactly what I want to read about these characters - they are as you said, mostly written by younger people for a younger audience - nothing wrong with that - but those stories are not for me. I hope in the future more mature writers will follow and blow us away with deep and intelligent writing and complete stories. :) So, thank you a lot for your long review, I totally enjoy reading them! Please do not stop, ha, and enjoy this chapter, dear.

** everyone: **have fun! please let me know if you liked it :)!

...

**Chapter 4: The Astral Plane  
**

"Father ... !"

My arms embrace the man before me very, very strongly, in fear, that once I let go of him, he would disappear forever. I grasp his garment as tightly as I can, with my shaking fingers, gasping and crying my heart out in my pain. My miserable feelings, of once loosing the person most dear to me, coming to the surface once more.

I do not know how long we were standing there, bitter tears flowing down my face, listening to his soothing words and clinging onto his protective frame like it were my very last lifeline.

Neither did I care in these moments, of how this meeting was even possible.

Because the hard truth is, my father died.

And the dead could not return to the living.

So many conflicting emotions and questions were trying to take over the wheel inside of my heart, of why the invasion has happened, why did he have to die, why did this have to happen to all of us, where and how should I go on without his guidance and protection?

"Son ..." he is placing his strong hands softly on my shoulders, taking a step back to take a better look into my tears stained face. My tears do stop to flow for one moment, as I read the profound understanding shining in his sad eyes. "I do know exactly what you think and feel right now. Do not worry, I will answer all your questions in time.", he then moves one hand to point at this place around us. "This is what all mortals know as the Astral Plane. The spiritual world, where the dead and higher beings are dwelling."

I gasp outloud as I fully take in my surroundings. I feel overwhelmed, as I wipe the remaining tears with both of my hands away from my face in wonder. "Good God, this is beautiful ...!" It feels like the multitude of vibrant colours around us are dancing, singing, changing. I suddenly can -hear- the chiming of the colors, I can -see- the floating vibrations all around us, I can -touch- the emanations of my father's deep love with my own heart. And the most unusual impression I have, is the total awareness prevailing inside of my mind. Here, in this place, I feel alive and am focused in a way I have never been before.

"The Astral Plane has it's own rules, it's own structure. Your very own thoughts and your entire belief that is stored deep down in your inner subconscious, do influence, how this place and the residing beings inside appear to your perception. Therefore, this plane's intrinsic nature is of a mental essence."

As I try to process the true meaning of his words, he places his hand on my back and says: "Come, we have a lot to make up for the lost time we have had. And I do mean this in mortal terms. Because in the spiritual world, space and time are merely illusions."

I rise my eyebrow at him curiously. "So this means, in this place, we do have all the time in the world to talk? Does this mean, I can meet you as often and as long as I need to?"

"Yes, ... indeed." he replies in a mysterious manner, as we slowly walk toward a myriad of transculent, circular staircases.

"I can hear a -but- somewhere hidden in your answer. So, I will bite. There is a catch?"

He is laughing out loud before I can feel a tender pat on my back, where his guiding hand is touching me: "Oh, my son, how deeply I regret leaving you. I already did miss our fun banter and your quick thinking mind. Good thing, that my message has reached Prompto, who in turn, influenced your behavior as well and made it possible for my message to reach you in time."

"Wait a moment, what does Prompto have to do with you sending him messages? Could you not just have reached me instead, from the very beginning?", I ask in a voice that sounds much to overprotective of Prompto.

I can hear my father chuckle slightly at my tone, as we reach the staircase infront of us and I look up, feeling horrified that we would need to climb probably thousands of stairs to reach our destination - whereever this might be.

Then we stop walking and he faces me to look at me seriously. "I want to be frank with you, Noctis. Prompto is your true soulmate. You two belong together, bound by destiny, ever since the universe startet spinning. The fact, that both of you are drawn to each other quite strongly and that both of your life forces are so compatible in this lifetime, must be obvious to you. Gender doesn't play a role in all of this, as both of you shared already bodies as females as well in the far past." He leans down to kiss my forehead. "I can read your mind, even without your face staring deeply shocked into space. It has deeper meanings to the two of you consuming your love to each other. ... Come, let us go on, I want for you to meet some influental spiritual beings. There is a lot to explain and quite a lot of planning to do."

As I rise one of my feet to climb up the stairs I let a small astonished cry, as I see that we are floating the way up, instead of walking, and it doesn't even feel strenuous at all. All of a sudden a ridiculous fear appears in my mind. "I am not dead, am I?"

My father is smiling as if amused and says: "Thank God, you are not. Even if I would love to have you here by my side, your destiny must be fulfilled in the mortal realm first. I think I better explain some facts to you first. The body, in where your every day consciousness resides at this very moment, the part of your mind that is talking to me right now, would be what you mortals term as the Astral Body of a human being."

I nod my head. "Alright, yes, I have heard about this."

"You see, every living being, be it an animal or human, is born into the material world inside a physical body. But pure flesh and bones alone do not induce a human being to move on his own, nor the lungs to breathe in and out, nor the blood to rebuild it's cells itself. For this, he is being born with a second, so called etheric body, which is completely energetic, invisible to the normal eye and fully comprised of etherical life force. One could say, it is an energetic interface and it's nature resides in the etheric envoirnment. The codes of your physical substance are stored therein, your appearance, your health or sickness, your capability of using life force as magic to name a few, and these are being altered throughout your entire life period as you grow older. To be brief, the etheric body is holding up your physical flesh and bones in sync and alive, and prevents the entire body to disintegrate instantly."

He stops here for a moment to let me digest this information. I cross my arms thoughtfully and then ask to make sure: "So, in a way, our physical bodies on the outside seem like those websites, that you can open via the internet and you look at the colours and text and click anywhere where it is possible. The etheric bodies on the other hand, represent the source code behind the visible website. The language, the mathematical data, which is holding up the appearance and it's content together like glue. Without the codes, the website would collapse, the content would not exist. Is this right?"

"It is a fitting comparison, yes. Also, the life force contained in the etheric plane would be equivalent to the electricity fueling the computing devices. Now, the human being has a physical body that needs an etheric body to function the way it is supposed to do in the mortal realm. But, for this being to have emotions, to act out the desires and to have a -will-, he needs an additional body - the astral body. This energy body is of a subtle essence, it's energy vibration much higher than the etheric one, hence even more invisible to the mortal eye. Imagine a human being without feelings, without the will to live. What purpose in life would this physical being share with all?"

"I think I understand.", I answer, thinking that emotions are indeed the ones that make us either fail or prosper in life. "Only through living out our emotions, and the consequences of acting these out, do we grow stronger?"

"Right. And now, imagine a human being, having only a physical body, an etheric body and an astral body. One that is material, one that is life giving, and one of emotional essence - these three bodies are identical to the entire body of an animal. In this state, these would only induce a human being to live in a constant eat and be eaten mentality. Now, let me ask you this: does an animal ask "Who am I", does an animal wonder "Who are you?" And are animals creative, do they have inspirations and ideas, do they love unconditionally? You see, for us humans to live fully, for us to grow, to experience, to create, expand ourselves and to transcend said emotional astral body, all three bodies would neet to become aware of the puppet master behind it all: to be aware of the connection to our Higher Self, so to speak."

... I am left speechless. God, the implications of these words are incredible! Why do we not learn about this in school? Why is society not questioning any of this, questioning their very own existence? To me, this is a very significant and universal truth to know ...

"Noctis, this is my homework for you: where do you think this awareness, the human consciousness, the unconditional love for all beings comes from?"

The only answer I have right now is to nod briefly. Because my mind is working with the velocity of light over this deep truth. "I will definitely ponder about what you just told me. But, father, this seems to be very important information - I do not understand why this is not already common sense in our society? Such profound truths should not be concealed, but revealed to everyone."

He is looking with a sad expression on his face, somewhere at a point behind me and his answer is instantly boiling up my blood vessels on a full scale in anger - well they would do, if I had any in this astral condition of mine.

"The truth is, ever since ancient times, there has been a group of higher beings living in the higher planes, cooperating with evil human beings in the mortal realms. In exchange for infinite life force, which is their nourishment and ambrosia, they help the lesser human lords win their meaningless wars and bring tragedy all over the world. These higher beings are still influencing humanity today, hence the invasion of Niflheim and them stealing the last Crystal, the Crystal of Lucis. King Eldercapt is the reincarnation of one of those ancient evil human lords and is under direct comand to fulfill the contracts of their overworldly masters. And for them to fulfill these contracts, without major interferences, humanity must be kept in constant sleep - completely unaware of their own true purpose and of their true immortal origin."

This is ... this is unbelievable! I clench my fists tightly while thinking furiously about a solution to this. Heaven! Overworldly beings manipulating evil humans and in return manipulating the whole world!

"There is no end to this, is there?" I need to ask, I have to ask this question, even when I already know the answer.

"Well, we are here.", he says simply. "This way. The spiritual masters I have spoken of before, that are waiting for you, are on the other side of this portal. Come."

These news have instantly changed my perception of my revenge. I suddenly do not want anymore to let Niflheim feel the same pain as my people and myself have suffered. After hearing my father's words, this objective seems minor in comparison. I now want to cancel these ancient contracts by all means. I want to take away the terrifying power from these mad human lords that have terrorised humanity for thousands of years and stil do so today! Just getting the Crystal back would change -nothing- on the future history of human kind, this much I understand now.

There won't be peace, for any of us. With this knowledge I just cannot stand back and let history repeat itself over and over and over. There -must- be something that I can do. And if there is not, then I will break through every wall, I will cross any distance if I need to and I am going to rip apart any veils that are standing in my way! This can't go on any longer, not as long as I am alive and breathing.

With my new resolve growing stronger and stronger by the minute, my father and I reach the huge portal infront of us. I look up higher and expect to see the top of the doors, but I cannot see an end, it seems to be reaching literally up into heaven. The chiming sounds as the colours move over the white glowing portal are so beautiful. Like a small kid, I need to touch the surface in hopes to catch one of the moving vibrations and am instantly dissapointed of failing to do so. I catch my father's warm smile at my childish antics and I smile sheepishly back to him.

God, this place is truly mystical. The same as all ancient sages, shamans and mystics have always spoken of and have lived to tell about. One does truly believe in this place only, if one has experienced it for oneself.

Just when I am about to touch the surface of the portal more strongly, the portal's doors open up and I almost fall inbetween and somehow I manage to refrain from making a fool of myself as my hands land on the chest of a person.

"Steady there! Young man, I can feel miles away your intent to catch one of those cute little sounds, but believe me, you'll fail every single time. Trust me, I have over 295279 human years accumulated wisdom and experience. Hahaha!"

My eyes open wide as I allow myself to assess the laughing black haired man before me, up and down and then up again. The funny thing is, he looks younger than myself, but is speaking as if his soul is indeed that old. He is standing there proudly, staring me down with his bright blue eyes in a way that makes me want to tease him, or punch him.

With my father on my side I resort to teasing, so I say back to him smugly: "Well, you might have 295279 human years of accumulated failures of catching them. I, on the other hand, have only one human day of accumulated success of catching -one-.", I say, with an arrogant smirk on my face, as I open up the palm of my hand and the little speck of colour floats away chiming as if laughing out loud. No, wait, the laughing part comes from my father, as he is bowing down to hold his stomach with his arms in laughter. I am so glad to see him laughing again ... it has been roughly about one week ago since he left my side, but God did I miss him dearly ...

The young guy is now looking at me as if he saw Death himself, it's hilarious, all large eyes and wide open mouth, as if he can't believe what he has just witnessed and blinking a few times in shock. I feel strangely proud of myself.

Then suddenly more laughter is joining my father, and I realize behind the young guy, there are more people standing. I can only rub my neck in embarassement now. Honestly, I still work on my impulse to brag around, truly, bragging doesn't become me at all. I can't stand this weakness of mine and hope to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"I am Riaan. Nice finally meeting you, son of Regis. You haven't changed at all, even in your new reincarnation.", says the young guy proudly of my accomplishment. "It seems you just did pass my test, now you can meet my other partners in crime. This is Leyhen." A tall, good looking guy, white long hair, red eyes, maybe older than Riaan, is coming forward. "Good to finally see you Noctis.", he greets me, like we were very old friends. Wow, Leyhen seems to be the strongest one of all, his aura is simply ridiculous!

Riaan then proceeds to introduce the next person: "This is Niell." Now a smaller person, female and about at my age, with a petite figure, long red hair and glowing green eyes, is coming forward, smiling at me brightly. "It's good meeting you again Noctis." she says and is shaking my hand. I instantly feel connected to her, I start to already like her. "And this one is Oruaar." This one is a middle aged-looking guy, remembering me of an older Gladio for some reason. "Hey there.", he greets me with a strong clap on my back. Yep, definitely Gladio-like, alright.

I swallow down my sudden upcoming nervousness. Something about these people feels very, very familiar. Their aura is crazy strong and they truly seem to be wise beyond their years. When everyone is finished introducing themselves I reply politely. "Nice to meet you all. I heard from my father you did wish to speak with me."

Niell steps forward, grasping my right hand with a concerned look in her wise and beautiful green eyes as she says in a soft tone in her voice: "Noctis, you might not remember anything yet, but before you were reborn on Earth you have already agreed to join our resistance group. Your friends, family and yourself have been on our side for many generations before. We all have fought together to keep the balance between the darkness and light. We all fight for the Goddess of Death and we are called Etro's Knights. You could say, everyone of us here is on the grey side of things. We are in agreement, that the light side, with it's ridiculous freewill regulations of not interfering in human affairs, are too lenient with the manipulative dark side. So we all have taken it upon ourselves, since ancient times, to keep the darkness at bay and serve the goddess Etro in every way we can."

I am thankful for her holding my hand, or else I would have lost the ground beneath my feet. "Etro's Knights? The Goddess of Death is real? She is not just some mythological being, but a -real- entity?" Today's news keep coming and coming at me and I find myself not knowing how to react anymore.

Leyhen steps to my side and is placing one hand on my shoulder. His power is overwhelming. "She is very real. As soon as your friends and yourself do recall your past and remember your future destiny, she will call you to met her personally. You already have her gift, to see the Light of the Dead."

Then Oruaar steps in and adds further: "It is not so much a duty to serve the Goddess of Death. It is not a contract that is forcing you into something you do not want. We all have once made a choice, out of our own freewill, to assist Etro in her plans to bring balance to this world. Contrary to human superstition, the Goddess of Death is not some creepy Grim Reaper, striving after human lifes and judging harshly over their sins, only after to exile them to burn in hell forever. These superstitions were planted on purpose by the White Knights on Earth, thousands of years ago, to let the fear rule over all human minds - heaven forbid, not that they might start to search for the truth. You probably know of the popular saying -to divide and conquer-."

Good God, this totally blows my mind! The more I hear, the more I would want to join Etro immediately, even if I didn't already agree to fight on their side in my distant past already. I can see and feel that these people are telling the truth and I let my eyes wander slowly to where my father is standing, looking into his eyes. He is my confirmation, that we all are immortal, that there is a deeper meaning to our lifes and that this is exactly what I always have been destined to do. I feel it deep down in my heart and I can't wait to get back to talk with the guys about it.

So I say to him: "Father, I have so many questions I just do not know where to start. Give me some time to think over everything. What is it that I can do for now? How can we meet again?"

Niell and Leyhen make room for my father to step closer. "Son, what you can do for now is to think deeply over and understand the significance of our conversation today. Then you have to tell your friends and make them understand as well. And after that ..." he is smirking openly at me now. "Well, after that, you should sit down with Prompto and let him enlighten you in the way of how you can meet us here on the Astral Plane on a regular basis." Alright. That sounds mysterious. What is Prompto knowing that I did not figure out on myself yet? Interesting ...

"The next time you'll visit, we will let you in into our plans to get the Crystal back to Lucis, the Crystal's power is very important for your own health. I will explain next time."

"Alright. Thank you all, truly." I look at the smiling faces of the spiritual guides beside me. "I feel like my true purpose has been revealed to me today, it did wonders to my confidence and resolve."

Riaan answers then amused: "Oh come on Noctis, don't you dare get all mushy on us, you know, we all missed you as well!" He then is boldly embracing me fiercly and everyone is laughing in good humor at his antics. The more I am in the presence of these people, the more I feel right at home and I wish Prompto, Ignis and Gladio could be here with us as well.

As if reading my mind Niell is telling me with a longing tone in her voice: "Please greet Ignis from me ... I miss him terribly.", and then she is hugging me as if I were the one who is delicate.

Oh. Now, this is intriguing ... are they ..? "Ignis is my soulmate, yes.", she says to confirm my thoughts. Wow. So this must be the reason of why Ignis has never been interested in any romantic trists before, his heart seems to be already taken ... and he doesn't even know the truth, yet. Finally something I can tease him with, as payback. But when I look at her closer, Niell is truly beautiful and graceful beyond words, long curly red hair, vibrant jade coloured and very intelligent eyes, a grace of a true female warrior ... if Ignis only could see her.

"Well, greet your friends from us, take care of yourselves. Until next time." Leyhen is giving me a hug as well.

Then Oruaar is giving my hand a strong shake. "And greet my twin flame Gladio from me, will you?"

What? I blink at him curiously.

"Our souls are twins. You already might have recognized our resemblance.", he winks at me with a grin. I smile back. "Of course I did, now I know why. And I will. Well then ..."

This time I have to force myself to look at my father, in fear that I will get all emotional again and never stop crying. He is stepping closer to embrace me very strongly. "I am truly proud of you Noctis. We can make this work, you are strong - never forget that. You are not alone."

And I can only nod in silence, my farewell tears threatening to choke me up in pain again, I do not want to leave him here and I wish I could take him -home- with me. A childish wish, I know.

And then everything becomes blurry before my eyes, I feel weak all of a sudden, and I fall deeply asleep ...

...

With a shocked gasp I wake up, heart beating rapidly in my chest. It just felt as if my body was falling down from a very high place and landing with a hard thud on the ground. I take a moment to calm myself, then my eyes focus to see Prompto's handsome face leaning over mine, that is looking down at me in concern. "Noct ... everything okay? I tried to wake you, but you were deeply asleep."

Without saying anything, I embrace him tenderly, kissing his cheek and bury my face into his neck. I fight against the tears that do already come out, while I think of how to breach this important subject with Prompto. Maybe I should wait until morning and talk with everyone first.

"Heaven, you are shaking, come, let's get back into the comfy bed." Sweet Prompto is standing up, helping me on with my trousers and takes the boots into his hand while grasping in the other one my own shaky hand securely. If he noticed the shimmering tears in the corner of my eyes, he didn't say anything. And so we walk back together in silence to the caravan and tiptoe as silently as possible inside to crawl back into the soft bed, under the warm and fluffy blanket.

I don't want to sleep -alone- tonight. And I don't care about pretending in this moment, to be what we are not anymore. So I take Prompto into my arms, hearing him gasp in surprise, to savour his warmth and his soft breathing ... and his scent ... until I fall deeply asleep ...

...

In the morning, I wake up to soft kisses on my face, on hands caressing my chest softly. A tender smile appears on my face, as my eyes open and a smiling Prompto comes into view. His hair is somewhat messy, so I rise my hands up to brush my fingers gently through his blonde strands of hair, letting it fall back sexily into his eyes. This is my favorite look on him. He is closing his eyes, purring like a cat, and I have to stifle a laugh. I look to the other side, where Ignis and Gladio were sleeping, but they seem to be already up and somewhere outside.

"Good morning, Noct." Prompto's hands resume to caress the skin on my chest and probably he is reading my mind, because he is moving atop of my relaxed body and is laying his soft lips on mine, kissing me leisurely. I will never grow tired of kissing him. I feel the kisses becoming deeper and hotter, so I stop him, to not become aroused again. He seems to be confused at my behavior, so I say to him with a smile to reasure: "Morning ... today I need to talk to all of you about something very important. For that I will need to focus - and I can't do that when my body is screaming for your touches .. so, let's continue at a later time." I say ruefully.

"Okay." he says in understanding, and then is giving me a quick peck on my lips before he is standing up. God, he is so handsome. The sun is shining through the windows and giving his nude body an ethereal touch, his golden strands of hair seem to glow brightly. I have heard in the past from many people how they were talking about being in love. Never experienced it for myself before, at this moment, I am left speechless, staring at him with awe, with a million butterflies fluttering in my stomach and enhancing my longing for him. I marvel at the sweet pain and the yearning in my heart, while looking silently at his handsome form. He raises his arms up, stretches himself and is giving a small groan of pleasure. My eyes follow in appreciation a path from his long neck, further down over his well sculptured back, lean muscles and sexy freckles on his skin as far as my eyes can reach, then my eyes caress him lower over his slim hips, to stop on his firm and sexy bottom for a moment. I swallow. My hands were gripping the blanket very, very tightly and here I just can't help myself anymore, I shove the mentioned blanket aside and rise up to embrace him from behind and to start to shower his bare back with open kisses and to lavish on his delectabel skin with my wet tongue. Spreading my saliva all over the skin as if to claim him mine.

I hear a slight moan. "Noct ...! I thought we will continue later ...?"

I look up at his beautiful smile, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief and I smirk naughty in reply, only a moment later to bow my head lower to bite into one of his perfect buttocks. He is moaning softly and leaning his body back into my arms, as I rise myself up again to fully embrace him around his chest, placing the palm of my hands against his hard nipples, caressing the soft skin around and over them, and continue to kiss and nipp and suck on the soft skin between his neck and throat from behind. His head is leaning back on my shoulder, with closed eyes and open lips in rapture and I can hear him moan deeply this time. "Hnn ... Noct, please ... if you do not intend to finish what you start, let's stop here ..." God, how I wish to continue, it is like I can't stop myself. As if I don't have any control over my actions. His entire presence is attracting me like a bee to the honey. I suck at his skin as I move up to his left ear to bite teasingly. I now hear his erratic breathing, see the adam apple on his throat bobbing up and down as he swallows hard and this is probably the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life - I let go of his skin, distance myself from his tempting body and sit myself back down on the bed.

A harsh breath is escaping me. "... I apologize. God, it is so difficult to keep my hands off of you today." He is turning around, excitement and understanding in his eyes. "I feel the same ... but we will get to enjoy each other at a later time, so, let's be patient." A small laugh escapes me to hear him saying this. "You? Patient?" He bows down to me to peck my lips again and then chuckles. "Yeah, go figure. Now the world must be ending." We laugh at that and then force ourselves to go to freshen up and make ourselves ready for the day.

...

About half an hour later we step out of the caravan to look for Ignis and Gladio.

Imagine my surprise, when both of them are already standing a few steps away, waiting for us. I can see Gladio crossing his arms, and having a very serious expression on his face.

I need to swallow dry. Oh God, he knows. What now?

Prompto is hiding behind me and gives a whimper in fear. "Oh no, Gladio will beat us up!", he whispers frightened.

A quick look at Ignis confirms my fears. He has had -the talk- with Gladio.

I let a sigh out to relieve myself of nervousness - well my intention was already to tell him about us, I do not like to keep secrets from my friends and family. But I can't keep myself from glaring at Ignis, because this is something that I would have liked to tell Gladio on my own. Ignis in return, does only shrug helplessly his shoulders - alright, I get it, he didn't have a choice.

So I take Prompto's hand into my own and walk with my head held high into their direction, until we stand directly before them. "Good Morning." I do hope to sound as cool and sure of myself as I try to be.

"Mornin'" Gladio's eyes immediately stop at my hand holding Prompto's and in turn I hold onto him even more firmly. Then his eyes wander up into my face and I stare back at him in challenge.

The tension between us grows ... and grows ...

I let Gladio see all the feelings I have for Prompto and that nothing would ever change my mind, or my heart, to be apart from him from now on. If he doesn't agree ...

"I know, if I do not agree, I can go and fuck myself several times over." says Gladio and is interrupting my thoughts. "Damn, what took you two so long to come open about it? I swear, your behaviour was downright hilarious to watch!", he is grinning widely at us and steps forward to hug Prompto teasingly around his shoulders. Prompto instantly is whining as Gladio is gripping him tighter, his head now between Gladio's armpit and I hear them joking around and I can't help but smile at their comical behaviour.

I feel my whole body relax, as the tension lessens, and Ignis is giving me a thumbs up sign and smirking. "I have breakfast ready, let's eat something, while we discuss today's schedule."

"Actually ..." I stop him as he is about to turn away. "Instead of discussing today's schedule first, I have some important news to share. A profound message from beyond our mortal realm."

Now I have their attention. I start to get a bit nervous at the thought of what kind of subjects I am going to share with them. What if they won't believe me? It does certainly sound very fantastical ...

I look at my dearest friends, family and lover, and then take a deep breath before dropping the bomb on them.

"Tonight, I met my father."

...

To Be Continued :). Thanks for reading.


	5. Deep Bonds-Prompto POV

Hey everyone,

this chapter's content feels in the first half maybe a bit repetitive, because of our guys talking about the same subjects as in the previous chapter - but I want to make sure that everyone understands in which direction the plot is flowing, so please bear with me for a little longer :).

** ben4kevin:** thanks x3. I look forward to the game's story, as I think there will be some kind of Etro's Knights mentioned as well.

** LisAlice:** haha, you are right, guilty as charged xD. And yes, you will see from my writing, that I simply do not like major drama, abuse, angst, jealousy and the whole package of troubling things and always try to avoid them. I love to get the characters into intense or embarrassing situations, fun and fluff, and happy endings. I want for the readers to feel good and just enjoy the ride, because real life is hard enough as it is. There is no need for the characters to suffer endlessly, just for the plot to become more interesting (which for me, needless suffering does only destroy a good plot, and I did read a lot of promising stories, only for them to end up in an endless loop full of misery (Harry Potter fandom is the best example). But this is just my opinion, so, yeah. :) That's why Gladio is not mad at those two and that's why Ignis is so accepting towards their relationship.

And lol to the "several times over"-thing. To be honest, this was just a spur of the moment quote, that somehow made itself independent and started to appear more frequently, haha. Not -my- fault, really. You are welcome anyway :D. And about your stories, as soon as I have more freetime I'll read them and let you know if I liked them. Thanks again!

** everyone:** I might repeat myself, but please, do enjoy this chapter :).

**Warning:** yaoi (m/m sex)

...

**Chapter 5 - Deep Bonds**

"Tonight, I met my father."

Gladio stops teasing me instantly as we all hear Noct's softly spoken words. The serious and somewhat nervous expression on his face is telling us that he is not joking.

Ignis is looking around first, before saying: "Wait, let's go back inside of the caravan. Prompto, help me quickly take our breakfast inside. We can't speak outside about something as significant as this. You never know who could be listening."

God, Noct met his father? But how? I rush as fast as I can to help getting everything inside, then everyone is sitting down on their beds and prepare their own breakfast to eat while listening to Noct's news.

Gladio goes first, after eating a few bites of his bread. "Noct, what did you mean? Meeting your father would be not possible, he ... is dead, right?"

I glance at Noct, as he is chewing a bite of his favorite strawberry marmalade coated bread and then swallows down, a bit of the marmalade now sticking on the upper corner of his lips. A few seconds long I fight with myself to keep calm, to not react to that. Oh, what the hell! Without my consent, my body is already leaning towards him to lick it off and Noct is staring totally surprised at me as I draw back, then I smile smugly to myself, as I resume my sitting position, and continue eating my own sandwich innocently.

Now I hear Ignis clearing his throat and Gladio is giving us a chuckle, while he is bumping my feet with his own. "Focus, love birdies." I can see from the corner of my eyes Noct flushing a bit red in his face, then shaking his head in disbelief.

After a while Noct seems to be ready to talk, as he is now sitting cross-legged across from us. "This night I have, for the first time that I can remember, slept very deeply. I am sure, that this state of body and mind, made it possible for me to suddenly become aware inside my own Astral Body. For the first time, I had enough energy left inside of me, to wake up beyond the mortal veil while deeply asleep in this reality. And there, on the Astral Plane, the spirtual world where the dead and higher beings dwell, my father was already waiting for me."

My eyes grow wide in understanding - I knew it! The messages I kept getting through my dreams, were intended for us to make love and through this act Noct's magical resources would fill up considerably. And he slept very soundly for the first time in ages ... Heaven! Suddenly I can't stop a stupid grin to show on my face. I am so happy that now there is a (pleasureable) way for us to cure his sickness and that I can help him somehow to become even stronger.

"I have heard about the Astral world. There were many tales told about the Astral Shards, that they one day all of a sudden appeared on Earth. One already existing right next to us, here in Duscae, as we already know. This means that Titan, the Archean, is originally from the Astral Plane. There probably is a deeper connection, that is escaping us at the moment." Ignis, the detective has spoken. And then he is asking the question of the year: "But, that does not explain, how you suddenly slept deeply for the whole night. What was the catalyst for this?"

Oh oh.

Noct and myself suddenly look at each other, conversing through our eyes, if we should mention what happened tonight between us, or not. I shrug my shoulders, letting him know that I don't have a problem with Ignis and Gladio knowing. His relief in his eyes is obvious, he doesn't want to keep secrets between all of us.

I just smile encouragingly at him, as he turns his head back to them and then answers in a blunt manner: "Sex."

Gladio is choking on a few bread crumbs, coughing his lungs out, trying to breathe, while furiously grasping after a bottle of water to gulp the whole content down. I need to stifle my laugh, which is trying to bubble up my throat. Way to go Noct! And Ignis, as always cool and collected, is only adjusting his glasses on his nose and is furrowing his brows deep in thought. I admit, I am a bit dissapointed at his calm reaction.

And here I feel like it is now my turn to explain some things. "A few weeks ago, I started to have some important dreams about Noct and me. The scenes I have witnessed there, could have been either distant memories of a past life, or visions of a probable future - I am not sure. Anyway, they changed in flavor after a few days, the dream-Noct made love to my counterpart there and ... then I understood that someone was sending me a message. From reading and remembering a book, where once there was mentioned Sex Magic, in which were descriptions of various techniques to manipulate life force through making love, I could connect these dreams to Noct, who was suffering nightly on insomnia and kept himself dragging along in a constant sleepy state throughout the day. Connecting the dots to him living on low life energy, day by day."

I clear my throat. "For him to refill his life force in a normal manner, he would have needed to sleep very deeply each night. But as his sickness always prevents him from falling deeply asleep, obviously, he has been living frequently depleted. With no hope for a cure. It is a miracle, that he managed to live through these exhausting consequences and for him to still be so healthy and powerful. So, the messages from my dreams have been telling me, for us to become lovers ..."

My ears are burning and my face must be totally red, so I add: "Imagine Noct suddenly have all the energy he needs, for fighting, for summoning, for living in constant awareness and think with a sharp mind every day. To see him never again falling into the stasis state. The sleepy-Noct-days could be over." Then I take a quick look at Noct and I can see recognition growing in his beautiful eyes, and then nodding at me.

Then he is telling us: "My father has mentioned, that Prompto and I are so called soulmates. Our attraction to each other goes beyond that of the usual lovers, as there is an ancient connection between us that is transcending death and rebirth. This would explain, why I also had those dreams Prompto was having the nights before and of why I felt so compelled to ... finally touch him. My inner power has been recognizing this deep connection for a long time, while I myself did not understand what it was trying to tell me. It has been looking for Prompto's own life force, to merge with it, to refill my energy. Now I understand, that this alien force inside of me has had no bad intentions all along. It intended to protect my health ... and I always tried to fight it off, to repress it. I became so afraid of it, afraid of this insane power consuming me if I would let my guard down only a little. It always felt so -intense-."

So this was it, this was the reason of why he was always restraining his desires - his fear of the unknown, his fear of loosing himself to lust and his fear of hurting me has been holding him constantly back. I suddenly lean forward and lay my hand down on his knee to look into his eyes, to say that I understand now, and that I am not afraid of his power, that I do trust him deeply.

And then I get a very relieved and very beautiful smile in return. His face looks suddenly so much younger, as if a great burden has been lifted from his shoulders. I gulp down and fight once again against my urge to tackle him and kiss him silly, so I do myself the favor and get back to my original sitting position, biting my lower lip, my glance at Gladio and Ignis becoming unsure, because they have been staring at us in silence all this time. I need to scratch behind my ears to keep my hand occupied, to not do something completely stupid infront of them.

"I see ... Sex Magic." Gladio says teasingly, then is crossing his arms and grinning up at me widely. I glare at him, knowing that this is something he will never let me live down.

Ignis then is all of a sudden standing up, grasping his backpack to take something out. And I gasp in disbelief. "The book! This is the Sex Magic book I have been talking about!" I lean forward to take a better look at the cover. "It truly is! Where do you have it from?" I ask pointing at it totally gobsmacked. I then see a naughty smirk appearing on Ignis's face, and at that I become afraid of him for a second, my body shivering in foreboding.

"Who do you think I am? I already saw your attraction long coming into fruition, many years ago. Being the intelligent guy that I am, I started to look for answers in my own way. And stumbled over this book. Which by the way, you left it's pages open in the library and I thought that something in your subconscious might have given you a profound sign, which the you at that time did not fully understand yet. And from then on I kept it. I anticipated the day, where the content would become important for both of you. I guarded this book very fiercly.", he whispers the last part and is stroking with a gleam in his eyes over the old book's spine, then looking at Noct.

I can only stare dumbly at him, when he is tossing the book on Noct's lap. "Study it."

Noct is looking at him aghast and is opening his mouth to protest, but Ignis is instantly halting him midway with his hand: "The content goes beyond the bees and flowers. Take it seriously. When applied in the right way, we may have a real chance of getting the Crystal back and for your revenge to be successful." I see Noct looking doubtful at the cover, his jaw clenching and unclenching. "I do mean it. Take my advice. We are all grown ups now and talking and reading about sexual techniques shouldn't be shameful. The creative forces of life are too relevant for your personal growth and well being, so do me a favor and swallow down your misplaced pride."

Wow. I never heard Ignis talking back to Noct that way. Like, never. I guess, this is really, really important. Thanks to Ignis, I think I get the true meaning of this ...

"I understand ... thanks.", says Noct softly after a while and nodding seriously. I can't keep myself away from him any longer, so I slide on the bed sideways to sit myself comfortably with my back on the wall, spreading my legs apart and opening my arms to pull Noct's chest from behind, for him to sit inbetween and to lean on my chest. I embrace him tightly and lay my chin down on his right shoulder to get a better view of Gladio and Ignis.

Then Ignis returns on the bed and is leaning himself back on the opposite wall as well. "Now that we have this subject out of the way, tell us more. What happened on the Astral Plane? What else did your father say, did you get useful information?"

Gladio then is making himself comfortable as well and looks at Noct with a curious expression on his face. Then Noct starts talking, about his senses being very clear, about the mystical place only mystics and sages have been talking about before, about his deep feelings of meeting his father again. And then he is explaining to us how our bodies are functioning, the purpose of each energy body, that we are in truth immortal spirits, being constantly reborn and then die, only to be reborn again, to learn and grow and become stronger and wiser. Then he is telling us of the White Knights, who have since ancient times made pacts with evil Darklords from higher planes to manipulate us and to rob us from life force through unspeakable acts. How these contracts must be abolished, or humanity will never be free to evolve out of their own strengths.

And then he stops, his hands formed into fists very tightly. I can feel his inner anger at the unfairness of it all. My own hands caress his chest downward to grasp his hands into my own and to soothe him, to show that we all are here for him. A shuddering sigh is escaping him, he takes a deep breath and then resumes his telling.

I can almost see in my mind how majestetic the portal infront of him must have looked like. We all laugh with him, as he is recounting his confrontation with Riaan. This guy must be a bit crazy and I instantly like him, as he seems to be as impulsive as myself. Then he is telling us of Leyhen, how this guy was incredibly powerful. Then of Oruaar, who by the way is the twin soul of Gladio.

"And then I met Niell. She is very beautiful, is fierce and delicate at the same time, holding herself up with a grace of a true warrior. Ignis, you should have seen her, I wish I could show you what she is like. Long red curly hair, intriguing and intense jade coloured eyes ..."

I rise both of my eyebrows as I can see Ignis becoming instantly interested. "Who is she?", he asks Noct. And Noct just simply says in a bored voice, as if it were a normal occurence this day and age: "She is your soulmate."

For the first time I see Ignis become flustered, looking aside and clearing his throat. Noct is then adding: "She misses you terribly." Now I can see Ignis become sad with longing, then he answers as if in a trance: "I know ... I felt it all my life. My heart, is already belonging to her. Even when I do not remember what she is like." Then he is sending a thankful look to Noct. "Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it."

Then a thought pops up in my mind. "This sounds to me, as if every human being has a soulmate. Like the old tales, where it was told of lovers searching endlessly, living life after life in longing for each other. Somehow, this makes me sad. I wish for everyone to find each other and be together forever ..." Noct is clutching my hands more firmly.

We all are silent for a few minutes. Each of us dwell on our own thoughts, when Noct is speaking up once more. "The spiritual masters have told me about the Goddess of Death, Etro, that she is real. That all of you, my family and myself, had been for many generations before fighting on Etro's side to keep the balance between the darkness and light. We are all called Etro's Knights. If my father would not have been standing there by my side, somehow still alive, I do not know if I could have believed everything they told me."

"You mean, it has always been our destiny to serve the Goddess of Death?", Gladio asks and I hear that he doesn't like this one bit.

Noct immediately steps in: "Not in the way you are probably thinking right now. We might not remember, yet. But long ago, we all have agreed on our own freewill to assist her in keeping the darkness at bay. No contracts and no obligations."

Gladio is nodding in relief. "Okay, sounds good enough to me."

"They also said, that we will remember in time. And once we know about our past, Etro is going to call us before her. I still can't grasp the thought of her being a real entity ... imagine all the lies that have been propagated by the White Knights, for everybody to stay asleep and to never wake up to search for the truth."

"Divide and conquer.", says Ignis. "I wouldn't be surprised, if the fights over the last Crystal were staged in a purposeful way. It was no coincidence of Niflheim invading at the night of the piece agreement ceremony, of all things. Now that Insomnia has fallen and Lucis is in the hands of the Imperial Army of Niflheim, with King Regis death, the last Crystal in their hands, people all over the world are in a state of terror and panic. Just imagine, how many would be willing to give up their very own freedom, in exchange for safety and material goods? After a long week, it has become clear as the day, that nobody is interested in resisting Niflheim's invasion to risk their own hides. Even if surrendering would mean giving away their very own power and land."

I nod my head bitterly. Ignis is right. "Yeah, they literally are selling their souls away."

Noct is then grasping my hands tenderly. "But can we blame any of them? They do not know better. All they knew in their entire lives were lies, and more lies - it made people naive and superstitious. One could say, they are in a constant state of fearing their own shadow."

A loud sigh is escaping me and I let my forehead touch Noct's warm shoulder infront of me. "So, what now? What can we do? Suddenly I feel as if the whole world is pushing down on our shoulders."

"Well it is obvious.", Ignis is leaning forward. "We still have a big cat to slay. We still need to pay off the repairs of our car and Noct is going to study afterwards the ancient book in his lap, so that he can gather more information from his father beyond our mortal world. Noct, as your powers will become stronger, and make no mistake, you -will- become stronger as soon as you join with Prompto - oh for the love of God, quit giving me embarrassed looks!"

I have to snicker into Noct's shirt at that. I love it when he is so bashful, but as soon as we get down to business he is totally a sexy beast, devouring me completely. I shudder at the delightful feelings, that the reminder of what has transpired between us a few hours ago is giving me right now.

"You are going to need special training to handle all the magic inside of you. I am going to look for books about meditation and similar topics, as soon as we can get away from here. You surely remember the escalating episode from over a week ago, where you couldn't reign in your emotions, and in turn you were almost frying up the lands around us as easily as crispy chicken. Good thing that Prompto was there, to ground you and cancel off the anger and powers inside of you." Ignis is shooting me a thankful glance. "To prevent such events from happening again, you need to learn everything you can about your inner force."

Gladio then is standing up and saying: "By the way, I heard from Cidney, who in turn heard it from the three pervert guys last evening, that there is a cave full of Goblins, south of Duscae. There are rumors of a strange power dwelling deep inside of it. Maybe we should check it out first, before confronting the Behemoth. It's just my gut talking here and I'd like to follow it. What do you all say?"

"Great. Let us start there." Ignis is closing up his backpack. "And Noct. Thank you for sharing everything with us. Your news is giving us hope. Now we can be sure, that there is a way to stop Niflheim once and for all." And then he is following Gladio out of the caravan.

I wait for Noct to move and stand up, but he is just leaning back into me and I hear him sighing out softly.

"What's wrong?"

He is closing his eyes. "I don't know ... everything is a little bit overwhelming."

"Yeah, it is ..." My finger start caressing the skin of his palm in thought.

...

"What the hell?!"

This cave is the creepiest thing, that I have ever seen! There must be thousands of bats just taking a flight outside, and they scare the shit out of me!

"It's cold, it's dark, it's creepy! I want to go home!" I wail like a small baby, pressing myself at the wall aside of me. "I absolutely refuse to go any step further inside!"

Noct is smirking, Ignis is shaking his head and Gladio is laughing at me. "Get your shivering ass down here! Either we all go in together, or you go alone."

"Gladio, you are so mean!" Then I instantly shut up, as we go in further, and we can hear more creepy sounds coming out of the cave. I jump up in fright, then stumble over a pocketwatch and I pick it up, taking a closer look at it. I feel my blood run cold at the sight. "Don't say they eat humans ..."

"Ah, I heard that the Goblins come out at night to steal things. Let's take a closer look at our surroundings, we may find some useful things lying around." Ignis starts looking at the corners, while Noct is the first to lead us further into darkness. My hero.

After walking for a little bit, all of a sudden a dozen of creepy Goblins appear out of nowhere. I take my gun out and instantly start shooting at them. I can see from here how one of them is creeping up behind Noct, so I jump quickly to his side and with my hand leaning on his shoulder I jump high up again to kick the creepy critter as far away from us as possible, deep into the dark abyss. Noct is then nodding in relief at me. "Thanks." And then immediately we fight our way through the first half of the cave, all of us starting to breathe harder in exhaustion.

"God, there is no end to these little monsters, or is there?" I gasp outloud, as I take a moment to catch my breath. Noct is looking around, then stepping further into the darkness, making himself ready to squeeze through some of the cave's narrow walls, then I hear him cry out in shock. "Look out!"

Great. My day just became a little bit better! More creepy Goblins are crawling their way out at us! Damn it! Gladio is calling out: "This cave's hidden power better be useful!" And I can only agree with him, then force myself to forget my exhaustion to help out fighting them off.

After what felt like an eternity, Noct is the one saving my hide this time, slashing and blasting a Goblin straight into the wall. Then I cry out "Noct!", and quickly roll over sideways on the ground to shoot one of my blocking bullets into the Goblin that is sneaking up from the side at him, so that he has enough time to turn around and slay it into hell and back. And after that, Noct is stepping closer to me with a sexy smirk and is reaching out his hand for me to grasp it. He is pulling me up forcefully from the ground, pressing me close with one arm to his hard breathing body, and we look intensely into each others eyes. Both of us slowly closing the distance between our lips, wanting to kiss each other mindless. When all of a sudden one last screeching Goblin is jumping high out at us and we roll simultaneously our eyes in irritation. Just when Noct is about to strike the pale fellow down, Ignis is already kicking his daggers with his feet at it from afar, hitting both weapons precisely into the Goblin's spine and we all look in bizzarre fascination, as it's body is slowly dissolving into black smoke. Both of us stare at Ignis, as he is adjusting his glasses and smirking at us.

Ignis is just too cool!

Phew!

Finally! No more Goblins coming out! As Gladio and Ignis move forward, Noct is grabbing my bottom, pulling me hard into him and not one second later I can feel his soft lips claiming mine with fervor. It might be the adrenaline still pumping in our veins, but heaven and hell! This kiss is ferocious with passion! God! I can't think, I can't move, his wet tongue doing forbidden things to my insides that I am in immediate danger of imploding in my pants any second now! Just from a kiss! At once he is wrenching himself off of me, I hear him breathing very, very hard now, and with a last all-consuming look into my eyes he is turning around to follow Ignis.

Dear God! What happened here?! I give a whimpering moan. The kiss was so intense, so raw with want, that I need a few moments to clear my mind (and adjust my pants). Because right now, my brain has been shortcircuited once more by a very, very hot Noct ...

After I succeed pulling myself together (more or less), I walk on the side of the opposite wall where Ignis already is checking out the ground for treasures, and this time I stumble over something of a bigger size. When I lean forward to look, I gasp out in surprise. "Noct, look! It's a Phantom Sword of Lucis." I grin brightly when he is stepping beside me to look at it in wonder. "What is it doing down here?" He touches the handle and immediately the sword is becoming translucent as it is merging with his power.

Ignis is laying his hand on Noct's shoulder. "We should probably look outside for more. As your father is no longer here, the swords seem to have scattered themselves around now, and you are going to need every single one to aid you in your future fights."

Noct is then wondering outloud: "Maybe I can find a way to summon each one at my side. We do not have time to search after the remaining ones."

I give a nod. "Good thing that they can't be stolen by Niflheim. Well, let's go on, the sooner we find the mysterious hidden power, the sooner we can get the hell out of this creepy place!" I shiver at the cold and damp air. "This cave is going to give me nightmares for years!" Not looking back to see if the guys are following, I start walking deeper into the cave.

Gladio is then shouting suddenly: "Prompto, watch out!"

I let out a scream.

A big snake-thing has caught my vest with it's fangs and is now dragging me forcefully further into the darkness. I struggle to become free from it's clutches, shouting, try to kick with my legs as hard as I can at it and I let out a loud curse as my flashlight suddenly falls out from my pocket to land God only knows where.

I try to take my gun out of the holder on my waist, only to realize I lost the damn thing as well!

Great.

Now I can't see anything and I can't fight back!

My heart is beating madly in fear.

I can only hear the huge Viper hiss and screech, as it is moving along on the damp ground and now I really, really fear for my life.

"Help! I am here!" I shout and scream, in hope that my voice will be enough for the guys to find me. "I can feel water under my feet! I think it's pulling me into it's nest!"

Not a second later the gigantic snake is throwing me down on the freezing ground and instantly I try to crawl away from it as far as possible. The terrible hissing becomes louder and I cry out in desperation, as my back is touching the wall and I realize that I can't escape. It's face must be very near to mine, because I can smell the putrid stench of it's breath and I let out one last scream for someone, anyone, to save me!

And just when the snake-thing is about to attack me, a huge ball of fire is engulfing it's screeching body and from the glowing light I now can see the ugly face and huge fangs. My body is shaking like crazy, feeling absolutely terrified and my hands reach up to my ears to block off the loud screams. I close my eyes firmly to protect them from the heat and sparks emanating from the flames.

"Prompto!" Noct is calling out for me and I open my eyes to slits, searching for him through the flames and smoke. "Noct! I'm here!" I pull up the end of my shirt up to my nose, careful to not inhale more smoke and just when the snake-thing has stopped screeching, a huge water spell is cast over the fire to stifle down the blazing flames.

My harsh breathing is doing nothing to calm me down and all that I can manage is to sit myself down, with wet clothes curled against the damp wall, not believing yet that the gigantic viper is dead.

Then finally Noct is at my side, crouching down on the wet ground with his knees to embrace me fiercly. "God ...Prompto. Everything alright? Are you hurt?" His hands touching me softly everywhere and looking for wounds. "I'm not hurt. Everything okay." I just hug him tighter, very tightly, and breathe in his comforting scent, trying to calm down my terrible fear. Then I whisper, relief obvious in my voice: "Thank you ... for a moment I thought ... I really thought that ..." His warm lips reach my forhead and he is kissing me tenderly all over my face. "Shh ... I got you. It's dead now. You have nothing to fear." I give out a sob, as I hide my face into his neck, the strands of soft black hair tickling my face, and suddenly I feel ashamed of depending so much on his strength. I want to be stronger, I want to be the one protecting him! Tears of despair are now rolling down my face. "I am sorry. So sorry." Then I feel his comforting hands on my face, pulling me up for him to have a better look into my eyes. "Don't apologize. None of us could have known, that this creature was living down here." His warm lips kissing me softly. "I am so glad you are alright ... if something would have happened to you ... " I feel his lips connecting with mine once more and his tender ministrations making me forget everything around us. I just try to savour and feel each other to be alive and breathing. God, I love him so much!

"Prompto! Noct!" Ignis and Gladio are running towards us. "A herd of Goblins have held us up, is everything alright?" Noct is giving me a final sweet kiss on my cheek and then he is helping me up from the ground. "Yes, we are alright. I managed to kill this thing with Firaga. It was huge."

Ignis is rushing up to me, immediately casting a Cure over my shivering body, just in case I was hurt anywhere. "Thanks Ignis." He is nodding at me in concern.

"Heh, too bad it is already dead, I would have loved to see it scream. How dare this thing hurt Prompto!" Gladio is kicking the remaining ashes away and then smiling at me. "Be careful next time. Glad you are alright!" I just nod at him, once again feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry." Gladio is then coming over to ruffle my hair. "Nah. Keep your chin up."

My heart is swelling up with so many emotions! I simply love these guys, really!

"Let's go. I have a feeling that we have reached the place with the artifact. The power is calling me." Noct is holding my hand with a smile on his face and I follow him towards the clearing.

We all gasp at the beautiful place, full of vegetation, butterflies flying in circles and the sunlight shining from above. Such a tranquil atmosphere, I take a deep breath and feel the leftover of panic and fear inside instantly dissapear. Having now calmed down, I can't wait to see what kind of power is waiting for Noct a bit further away. Like a kid on Etro's Eve I look ahead with wide open eyes at the alien looking artifact, fascinated with it glowing all green and pulsing softly.

Noct is letting go of my hand and steps forward to reach out to it.

Time seems to stop, as a wave of light is shooting directly into Noct's outstreched arm and I can hear him groaning out, hoping it isn't painful. I can see the power flowing into every magical vein inside his body, measuring him, caressing him and then finaly merging with his own inner force, leaving only shimmering particles of magic flying around us. It's so amazing! So beautiful!

Noct is then turning around in our direction, flexing his hands as the glow on his veins lessens. His eyes became once again fiery red, glowing brightly, as his powerful gaze is searching out mine and capturing me.

My knees become weak in an instant.

Good God, he looks amazing! His powerful presence is ablaze right now and is literally taking my breath away!

I gulp down, as a sudden, uncontrolable lust is emerging from deep inside. It's like his power has just woken up. Through merging with the alien power from before, it has intensified in strength twofold.

And it is looking out for more, reaching it's tendrils out and now it has found an additional source: me.

A moan escapes me, as his intense and beautiful red eyes wander and caress every inch of my still clad body. I can feel his power touching me everywhere at once and if this feels that good now, I am not sure to survive what it is promising to do any minute now ...

Ignis seems to realize what is happening and is dragging a confused Gladio away from here. I hope he is taking him very, very far away - because I don't think I'll be able to repress my voice this time around. I think my body has never been -that- aroused, without having any kind of physical stimulation before!

I can see Noct slowly walking towards me, my whole body and mind shaking in anticipation, goosebumps all over my skin. His lips are smiling slightly, sexy, seducing me, as his eyes are devouring me from the inside out, while coming closer and closer. God, I instanly feel the difference, between the Noct from yesterday and this Noct now.

He is not repressing his desires, at all!

I can't even finish my thoughts, because as soon as his body touches mine I already feel lightheaded and I give a loud moan as our lips crash into a bruising kiss!

All hard, wet, greedy.

The tendrils of his power already burning their way under my skin, and I need to groan out at how arousing this feels! Like a drug it's making me addicted and high. Making my heated body totally aware of it's essence and I need more!

There is nothing soft and tender, as Noct is opening both of our trousers, pushing the fabric down until our groins are visible, then grasping with his strong hands my bare bottom for me to circle my legs around his waist and all at once he is pushing me hard against the vegetated wall, still kissing the breath out of me. His hips start to move against mine right away, and I give out a sob of want at the feeling of our bare groins rubbing together.

More!

Please, I need more!

Our tongues are stroking against another erotically, I groan outloud into his mouth in appreciation, as he is simulating with his tongue what he intends to do now. Diving it deep inside my mouth. In and out. In and out.

Yes! God! I want him! I want everything!

As if reading my mind, his power is reaching inside of my veins, flowing down to my groin, burning up my sensitive cock there for a long moment and just when I think I can't hold on anymore I cry out, captivated in lust, as it is making it's way further back straight into my anus and piercing it's way inside!

Noct is then breaking the kiss, breathing very hard, as he is looking with his red gaze burningly into mine, focusing, and a gasp of surprise is escaping me, when I feel that the tendrils of his power have somehow loosened up my hole and are preparing me for him to take me. Good God! They are now constantly stroking over my prostate and I cry out for Noct!

"I need you! Now!"

I clutch my fingers firmly into his back, when he is taking a hold of his hard cock to finally take me in the way I always dreamed of him doing!

Heaven! Nothing can describe the feeling of being sensually streched beyond limits, of him touching that agonizing point inside over and over, of his power focusing on my groin and making me entirely delirious with every stroke inside of me. It's too much! It's not enough!

I think I go crazy!

Just when I feel myself close to coming, one of his hands is grasping tightly around my leaking cock to stop it once again - all the while still piercing inside of me in abandon and making me cry out in carnal hunger! My fingers are probably hurting him right now, I need to hold onto him that tightly, or else I'll loose my mind!

He is leaning forward to latch his hot lips on my throat, licking and sucking the sensitive skin there, his wet tongue leaving trails up to my earlobe and nipping and biting and I can hear his aroused breaths, puffing erotically against my skin. God! And then we are looking into each others eyes again and I shiver at his beautiful, red as ruby, hungry gaze. His entire presence capturing, enticing me further. And then his hips are speeding up in thrusting, my lips open up in silent rapture, my head leaning as far back into the wall behind me as possible, as his hand is now letting go of my almost painfully engorged cock and his power is concentrating on every sensitive region in my groin! Everything becomes too much, that I instantly need to cry out my pleasure as I reach the strongest climax my body and mind has ever experienced! And as if this is still not enough, his power is all of a sudden latching strongly onto my climax and fueling, burning it's way higher! Making my eyes sting with tears of untold pleasure, as it is merging with my life force, licking and sucking and caressing, and all of a sudden my vision before me becomes all dark ...

...

".. mpto?"

I feel hands shaking me. Something cold and wet is caressing my hot skin, and this feels so good. I hear the sounds of nature around me, water lapping against walls, birds chirping.

"Prompto!"

My eyelids feel so heavy, can't bring myself to open my eyes yet. "Hnnh ..." I moan out in answer. My whole body is vibrating in sweet afterglow. Still shaking from that overworldy climax my body had endured. God ... am I alive?

"Are you alright?"

I can only nod once, licking over my dry lips. Then I feel wet lips touching mine, kissing and wetting the dry skin there very gently.

"Don't you dare apologize ...", I say to him with a cracking voice, the instant I feel his intention of opening up his sweet mouth and say something stupid. "God ... do you know what you just did? You took my brain out, wrapped a red ribbon around said brain, and sent it somewhere far, far away out of this galaxy ..."

I hear a soft chuckle from him. "I don't mind. I am only after the rest of your body. Who needs a brain for sex?"

Then I laugh out loud.

"Noct?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

A soft kiss on my lips.

"I love you, too."

...

until next Chapter :)! Thanks for reading everyone.


	6. The Archeans-Part One Noctis POV

**AN:** Hey guys,

thanks for reading my story so far :). I am actually flashed to have so many visitors from so many different countries reading this story. I am truly glad and it is boosting my confidence in writing better and better for all of you.

** ben4kevin:** hey, thanks, glad you liked the previous chapter :)! Please enjoy this one as well.

** LisAlice:** lol, yes, the stasis is fully explained now, haha. And shame over SE to delete the Naga-part in the cave. But I loved to write that scene, Noct coming to the rescue *swoon*. Thank you so much for your compliments! It makes me want to become better :D. And wow, the whole sky, really? You make me blush, girl! But yes, the cave-part is one of my personal favorites as well. Please look forward to the next chapters as the story progresses :). Enjoy, my dear.

**Warning:** yaoi (m/m sex)

...

**Chapter 6: The Archeans - Part One**

I do not know how long Prompto and I were lying on the grassy ground, savouring each others warmth and feelings. His head is placed comfortably on my chest, his right arm and leg embracing me as if claiming me as his own and never wanting to let go of my body ever again. A soft smile appears on my face. No more shirts clutching tightly at night for him. He now has a real Noct to cuddle with.

My right hand is caressing through his still wet strands of hair, slightly massaging the skin there and I can hear him purring softly in pleasure. And with my left hand I hold his own into mine, making gentle patterns with my thumb on his skin. We are drenched in sweat and dirt from all the fighting, exhausted as hell of the passionate activities from before. But truly, this is one of the best moments of our lives and I close my eyes for one moment, smiling in deep gratitude.

As we listen to the beautiful sounds of secluded nature around us, a wispy breeze is caressing us from above, the late afternoon sunlight only barely reaching the lower parts of the clearing, highlighting the vegetation around us in soft spots of orange light, the wisps of fog giving the surroundings an almost fairytale-like touch. It is leaving some leaves and branches of the exotic plants above us to give off delicate, otherworldy shadows underneath them.

I marvel at the beauty around us. At the beauty that is enveloping my heart and soul at this very moment, having Prompto at my side.

So this is what true love feels like.

My heart is so full with overcoming impressions, I feel so content, so bittersweet inside and still yearn for more of the same. It is almost painful to bear. I have never felt like this. Such bliss.

I let out a deep, satisfied sigh.

If it wouldn't be so cold down here, and if Prompto weren't as chilled to the bone as I think he is, I would let us fall asleep here. So I shake him slightly and whisper in a soft voice at him: "Prom, come, let's stand up."

He is hiding his face into the fabric of my shirt, the sound of his voice muffled because of it. "Hnnh... I don't want to." Now he is embracing me tighter, taking a deep breath of my scent and moaning lightly, crossing his legs through mine, not wanting to leave my side for the world.

I give out a chuckle when I see his pouting face. "I do not want to leave either, but we need to get ourselves clean and warm you up, or else you catch a cold. As tired as I think Gladio and Ignis are as well, we should probably look for a resting place in this area and rest ourselves for the time being. In this condition we are of no threat for the big cat at all."

He is moving up a little to look down at my smiling face and leaning his hands on my chest for support. The sated look in his eyes is so becoming to him. Flushing cheeks, ruffled hairstrands falling into his glowing eyes, full red lips from kissing too much, and Heaven - it might be only the rose-coloured glasses of love talking here - but he is so breathtakingly beautiful right now ...

My heart is constricting in sweet pain because of it. I reach both of my hands out to place them on each side of his cheeks, my thumbs caressing his skin gently, while we look tenderly into each others eyes for a few long moments. Then, as if his own feelings become too much for him to bear, he is closing his eyes tightly and leaning his face sideways into my hand and placing his own over mine, slightly rubbing his cheek on my palm.

"Noct, I do love you. So much.", he whispers, his voice hoarse and cracking slightly from the intensity of his spoken words.

My heart is starting to beat madly in love in return, so I pull gently on his face, to close the distance between us once more and for us to kiss like we never did before. Oh so slowly, such erotic, but meaningful movements of wet lips against wet lips. Feathery, so tenderly, all gentle nips and soft bites on his lower lip, imbued with all the affection and adoration I have for him deep down in my heart. I pour out my innermost feelings for him to feel, worshipping every single inch of his trembling lips and answering every single sensual movement of his tongue against mine. We are so lost into each others essence, that the only thing left for us is only to transcend ourselves into this very emotional moment.

And I imprint upon his immortal soul my deepest praise and acknowledgement for his substantial existence.

The connection between us is surpassing everything we have ever known and we stop the kissing to embrace each other very tightly, both of us trembling with awe, eyes shimmering with unshed tears, in full understanding and absolute stunned silence of what just has transpired between the two of us.

Soulmates.

It's only in this very moment, that the profound meaning of this word is resonating deeply within each of us.

No more words are required, for me to express my deep love for him in return.

...

"Noct, Prompto, are you alright?"

As I support a tired Prompto, leaning on me heavily as we walk out of the cave, I cannot help myself to smile in relief at seeing Gladio and Ignis rushing forward in our direction. "Yes, everything alright. Only Prompto is absolutely exhausted."

Gladio is then immediately taking him, heaving him up onto his strong back to carry him.

"We have used our waiting time with looking around this area. A bit further down of this hill, there is a Chocobo farm. There is a caravan we can use to clean up and rest properly." Ignis is stepping up to my side, reaching his strong arm around my shoulders to support me. Only now do I realize how tired I truly am, my legs weak and trembling. I thank him with a weak smile, as we start walking in silence to our set destination.

...

"Oy, Ignis and friends, there you are again."

We stop walking, all of us finally inside of the Chocobo farm. With a curious expression on my face I look up at Ignis. "Ah.", he says, as if remembering something. "This is Wiz, the owner of this place. We exchanged some information before we got back to you. We explained to him that we have cleared out the cave. Lucky for us, they were looking for a long while for someone to help them with this case."

Oh, glad that we could help, I guess.

I see the older man walking toward us in greeting, smiling brightly. A pang of slight longing and pain touching my heart at seeing his friendly smiling face, that is reminding me so much of my own father. I instantly like this man and I smile at him in return.

"I have talked with my wife and she wanted me to offer all of you a hot, relaxing bath in our sweet home. You will be always welcome here to spend the nights for free on our caravan, as a big thanks. We are all very thankful for your help, clearing out the cave of these terrible Goblins that have terrorized the Chocobos on our farm all night long, for years. They were even stealing our belongings."

I then remember the golden pocket watch that Prompto has found there, and I step up to his side to take it out of his pocket. "We have found this watch, it may belong to somebody living here.", I say to Wiz, as I place it into his hand.

"Oh my Chocobo! This is mine. Wonderful, wonderful. I looked everywhere and thought of never finding it again. Thank you so much young man. For this you all get a discount when buying future goods from my shop." He winks at Prompto and laughs heartily, as we all smile at him, thankful for his kindness. "Well, don't just stay there, up you go, my friends. My lovely wife is already waiting for you and trust me, you don't want to make her wait for too long." He is grinning widely at us, while making way for us to walk ahead to his house.

"Thank you very much Wiz, we deeply appreciate it." Ignis is shaking his hand in thanks.

...

I stand in the wide, tastefully decorated bathroom area, not believing my eyes at the big bathtub before me. Everything is already prepared, clean fluffy towels set on the shelf beside it and the bathtub filled with inviting, clean and hot water.

Gladio and Ignis have agreed for Prompto and me to go first, so I help first Prompto taking his damp and dirty clothes off. At least he is awake enough, so that I don't need to fear for him to accidentally drown himself under the water. Then I help him slowly to get into the bathtub, hearing him groan out at the wonderful feeling of warm water enveloping his tired body and I let go of him for one short moment to undress myself as well.

With a deep sigh I join him, sitting myself behind him and embracing him so that he can lean on my chest as I lean my head back on the wall behind me.

I do not know whom to thank for this wonderful gift, besides Wiz and his wife. This is exactly what we needed right now, to relax ourselves and refresh our battered bodies. No hot shower in the world can give you the same sense of well-being as a hot bath can do.

My eyes close in enjoyment and my hands caress leisurely over Prompto's chest. His head is now leaning back infront on me and he seems to enjoy this as much as I do, which brings a smile full of content on my face. His hands start caressing the outside of my thighs that are streched out on each side of him and we just lie there for a good few minutes, just stroking gently each others skin and loving every minute we spend together in the hot water.

Finally some peace.

After a while I take the sponge from beside me, drop a good amount of good smelling shower gel onto it's surface and then start to massage and wash off the remaining dirt off from Promptos body before me. He leans forward to make room for me to work and is purring like a cat whenever I sqeeze the hot water over his cooled off skin. Freckles are adorning his sunkissed skin all over his neck and back, and I bow my head forward to kiss and lick gently over as many of them as my lips and tongue can reach. Probably I repeat myself, but I really do love the taste of his skin. The sensations of hot water and his body pressed closely into mine are wakening up my libido once more, but I ignore it for now, as cleaning ourselves has priority.

Then I take the shampoo bottle and squeeze out a bit on my hand, and rub it softly into his wet hair. Never having done this before to other people, I start to wash his soft hair, careful to not let any shampoo residues drop into his eyes. "Is this good?", I aks him softly and he gives me a nod in return. "Yeah, feels great." I massage his skin and hair for a few minutes, just to spoil and indulge him some more, as I can see how much he is loving this. He is then taking the shower head and reaching it back to me to shower the foam off. After his hair is clean again, I brush my lips over his neck and throat, resuming to clean him with the sponge everywhere else. I can hear him moan lightly at my ministrations, the sponge rubbing and stroking over his inner thighs now and then my eyes open wide when I can feel his erection brushing against my hand, being already hard.

Ah, so I am not the only one who is affected by this. But I ignore his groin area for now and let the sponge do it's job as I caress it over every inch of his body, not letting even one spot untouched. To my surprise, he is then taking the sponge out of my hand and turns his body around to face me, smiling, sitting himself down on my lap with spread legs that are circling around me and then is imitating the same procedure as I did for him before, washing first my hair out from dirt, and now I can understand why he loved this so much. It feels simply incredible to have someone else doing this for you. His talented fingers are massaging my scalp stimulating even the roots of my hair. I let out an unconscious purr now myself, and he is giving out a sweet chuckle at hearing this. He is leaning forward, kissing the tip of my nose in response and then showering the foam off after he finished. The sponge surface is getting a bit more of the shower gel spread over it and he does continue to rub it all over my upper body, reaching around me to clean my back as well. I lay my head sideways on his shoulder and close my eyes in delight. Groaning here and there whenever he touches a sensitive spot.

This is heaven. I want to always take my baths together with him beside me from now on. This feels too amazing and I just love the attention we both give to ourselves. This is not just a simple and hasty cleaning routine in some of the narrow and cold shower stalls we have encountered on our journey.

This is pure bliss.

He is then not hesitating at all, as he is grasping my own arousal with one hand and squeezing firmly with intent. I groan out at the feeling of his demanding touch. Then I watch him as he is leaning back leisurely to take a better look at my face, his hand slowly moving up and down, the thumb smearing my precum around the head, his tight hold on me pleasuring me and my breath catches as I can see in his eyes clearly the carnal lust smoldering like molten lava.

Prompto ...

My cock is giving a twich in his palm in response and suddenly we are all over each other. The second time for today.

Water is splashing around us and out of the tub, as our tiredness is making temporarily room for passion once more. We embrace fiercly, his body now fully pressing into mine, his hands grasping the back of my head in a firm grip, our bare cocks rubbing against another, with my own spread hands taking each one of his sexy buttocks to knead his flesh wantonly, firmly pulling him as close as possible to my groin. He is moaning now louder as we look deeply into each others eyes, his harsh breathing mixing with mine, waking up my inner force as it is answering to his desire. The tendrils are coming out once more to fuse into his skin, he is groaning out loud and we crush our lips together to kiss each other senseless. I can feel us loosing ourselves in ecstasy again.

"Noct ... please! More! Take me!" His moans and his pleading are turning me on like nothing else, on very high levels, and I do him the favor of reaching not only with my magic tendrils, but this time with my own fingers into his wet, quivering hole as well - both at the same time. He is crying out now from pleasure, his back bending back as I touch the sensitive place deep inside of him, the tendrils ensuring for him to feel no pain and I stretch and finger-fuck him until he is ready for me to take him. He is looking down at me the entire time with half-closed eyes, captivating me completely, the erotic expression on his face licking and burning at my insides and inviting me to hurry the fuck up and just -do- it. Now.

Without hesitating I enter him fully all at once and he is throwing his head back with a cry full of want as I start moving my hips with abandon, supporting our bodies with one hand, as I hold with the other one onto the side of the bathtub. He feels so good, so amazing around me. So tight and hot, burning me up completely in a haze of exhilaration!

At our first coupling, I was so out of it with desire, that I barely noticed his reactions. But as he is now moving up and down on me, I realize how alluring and stimulating he truly is while we make love. His head thrown back, his soft looking throat inviting me to bite him, his sexy adam apple bobbing up and down as he is groaning and swallowing down, his sensuous chest streching out before me and heaven, those delectable pink nipples on him, hard, crying out for me to lick them all over and just begging to be sucked and I do exactly that.

"Noct, harder!"

Heaven! Something just seems to snap inside of me. This is not enough! I need more room to fuck him with all I have. I all of a sudden stop moving, I can hear him gasp and moan in protest as I stand up, because he fears I'll stop here.

Not in this life, not ever.

With my arousal still inside of him, his legs are closing around me as I heave ourselves out of the tub, splashing water all around us. I spread hastingly a few of the fluffy towels on the floor and then go down on my knees to support his back onto the soft fabric behind him. I want to pleasure him until he cannot stand up anymore and to finally ravish him properly.

"Noct! Yes!" He is now almost crying in want, as I take one of his sexy legs over my shoulder, turn his upper body slightly sideways and focus my hips to move inside and out, very slowly, deliberately drawing out my movements, but drive each time harder back inside of him, intending my magic tendrils to move all over his delicious looking cock, finding every sweet spot and sensitive place to drive him absolutely crazy, while my measured and hard movements pound inside of him relentlessly and are massaging his prostate over and over and over.

I know that he can't think coherently anymore by now, as his moans have since long stopped, arms stretched out with trembling fingers clutching the towels above his head tightly, his eyes have closed themselves in elation and at the same time his seductive lips open up in a silent voracity for more. His chest flushed red, heaving rapidly as he is breathing in and out erratically.

Good God, he is so sensual!

I could pound into him forever. Bringing us higher and higher and much higher, but I already can feel him close to coming and I speed up my hips, driving now my cock with more force into him, over and over and over, for us to reach that incredible, pleasure-filled place inside of our minds where time just seems to stop. And with a loud cry both of us finally reach our overpowering climax at the same time, taking my breath away and making me dizzy with it's force, as my body slumps down next on the floor in front of him, being carefull to no crush him and with the last energy left inside of me I pull his trembling body into mine.

We both are panting hard and heavy for long while and I realize fully now that he did not lose his consciousness this time around, because he is opening his beautiful eyes and looking with a sated smile at me. I caress over his handsome face, my thumb stroking over his sexy lower lip once, and then I wipe the fresh sweat away from his forehead, a tender smile on my lips.

After a while, he whispers hoarsly with amusement lacing his voice:

"You were right. Don't need a brain for sex at all."

A sudden laugh is bubbling up and out of my throat and I burrow my face inside of his neck to hold him securely into my arms.

...

Finally, we are lying down on the soft bed. With Prompto cuddling against me again, I draw the blanket over our bare skin and with a soft kiss on his cheek my eyes close slowly to let sleep take over me ...

...

"Son!"

I smile brightly at seeing my father once more. He looks so good, healthy and much younger than the last time I saw him. "Father! It's so great to see you again!"

I hug him dearly, feeling him place a kiss on my head. "I see, Prompto has let you into his secret." He draws back a bit to grin down at me. If I could blush here I would, so I just smirk back at him. "I can't thank you enough. Without you meddling into our affairs, I would have never realized how precious he is to me. We would have missed each others closeness as lovers and as soulmates. Today for the first time we have understood the true meaning behind our souls belonging to each other."

He is just smiling full of love at me. "You have grown a lot, since you were here the last time. I am really proud of you."

"You know, today a new power has been absorbed by my inner force. Do you know what it does? What purpose does it have?", I ask curiously.

"Ah, this power has a consciousness of it's own. It is a living entity, old as Earth itself. The name of this entity is Ramuh, a master of the lightning element. What you have absorbed into your body is only a small part of his whole essence, as he is the one responsible for the storms all over the world. He is not exactly an Archean, because he wasn't created with evil intent."

My brows furrow in thought. "So, does this mean all Archeans are evil?"

"In a way, yes. Their intrinsic natures were specificly designed for destruction. Not for creation."

"Designed by whom exactly? By God?"

"I will answer your question with a question. What or who do you think God is?" My father is waiting patiently, as I gather my thoughts.

"Alright. I think the one we call God, is not a person, but not a single spiritual entity either. I always saw God as our Creator. As an all-encompassing unity. A force, that is giving us a consciousness and at the same time this force is living and experiencing through each one of us conscious beings, uniting us in return." Now I look at him, curious to see where this will lead.

He is smiling lightly. "Did you read this somewhere?"

"What? No, I didn't. It just came to me. I think I understood this when Prompto and I felt our deep connection, at the time when our minds joined fully back to our primordial, original state of souls. It was so awe-inspiring ... I have no words."

Then he is asking me: "And where do you think the Goddes of Death is fitting in all of this?"

This question takes me aback and I need a few moments to work this one out. I look at my father before me, seeing him in a way alive, but not alive as a mortal being. So, there is a cycle of Death and Rebirth ... hm. "Well, when there is a Goddes of Death, who is a real single spiritual entity, and who is responsible for the natural ways of decay in our physical world and opening up the ways for rebirth, seeing that death is only a form for transformation to take place, from a lower state to a higher state of being. Then, naturally, there must be a Goddes or a God of Life as well. But I do not understand where all of this is leading?"

He is laying his hand on my shoulder. "To come back to where we started. The Archeans were created by the corrupt God of Life."

"Corrupt? As in, he became evil?"

"You see, the material universe, where we live in as temporary conscious beings, is, you could say, the God of Life himself.

I gape at him stupidly. My brain trying to process his words, and I am pretty sure this expression on my face doesn't become me at all. "Wait. Did I just understand you right? The whole physical universe -is- the God of Life himself?" And all of a sudden I realize of what great importance the Goddes of Death must be as well, when comparing the sheer and vast energy they encompass.

My father is smirking at me now. "I will give you a hint: you are a temporary mortal being, in a physical body, living in a physical universe, which is created by the God of Life. Now that my own physical body has decayed, my consciousness transformed to a higher state, a temporary soul in an astral body, living in the Astral Plane, which has been created by the Goddes of Death. So, where do you think now does our primordial, original bodies fit in?"

My eyes are widening in understanding. "There is a higher Plane, our original home. The famous Kingdom of Heaven, where our true Father, the Creator, is residing in. Where the all-encompassing force has it's roots."

"Right. And if you remember the homework, that I have been assigning you to do the last time we met, about our Higher Selves: the puppet master beyond your essence, this consciousness that is being fully aware of it's own eternal existence, has it's roots in the Kingdom of Heaven as well. As time and space are only illusions, your Higher Self is your past, your present and your future self - all at the same time."

He is again stopping to let me process what he just said. "So the "I" that I think to be right now, is not fully aware of it's own infinite existence. Would "I" be fully aware of it, I wouldn't fear death, I wouldn't question my mortal existence at all, because I would -know- all there is to know."

"Indeed. This Higher Self is your true being. It is of a pure and refined form of energy and light. This pure spirit is waiting for all his "fallen" conscious units to follow his path, to grow up, to become aware of themselves, to gradually transform from a lower state to a higher state of being, and then to finally reach home."

A frown is appearing and automatically a question is popping up in my mind. "Fallen? How can a pure spirit fall?"

"A long time ago, a shism happened between the good and evil forces, that's where the famous "fall" of human kind is rumoured to have happened. But, what truly happened was, to take your own words, our primordial, original state of souls, have fallen down into the material universe. We have reverted literally overnight, from a higher state of being, to a lower state. From pure beings, having the highest understanding of our infinite existence, to mere mortals, who oftentimes are not even aware of sharing the same destiny together, let alone the awareness of what is truly happening around them. There are higher beings, who reverted back to mortals, that crave for ultimate power, for oppression of all conscious beings, for ruling the material world and falling back over and over to their mere physical state, because they worship material goods, they worship a perverted sexuality and are using the creative forces to make evil contracts with evil overlords, only to uplift themselves into their own set artificial and limited hierarchy as the top rulers of the whole physical universe. These mere mortals with their ruling overlords, have ever since the "fall", managed to corrupt the God of Life, the material universe itself, for him to do their bidding and to bend to their own perverted wills."

I am now staring speechless at my father. I just ...

"Son, the fall was a very sad and tragic event and brought forth a myriad of evil forces trying to hold back humanity to transcend back to their true original form: becoming one again with their Higher Selves. And now to come back again to the subject of Archeans, they were created for exactly this purpose: to terrify humanity, to destroy peace and harmony, to divert all souls from their true purpose and to accumulate through their terrorizing ways as much life force from humans as possible - the ambrosia for the overlords living in the Astral Plane. The Archeans are the henchmen of the corrupt God of Life."

A deep anger and sadness is filling me up suddenly. "This is unbelievable. I know I repeat myself, but, why does humanity not know of any of this? Why do we not learn about the truth? Why the endless and stupid wars because of religion, because of race, because of the Crystals? All of this does not matter a fuck in comparison to what you just told me!" Angry tears are flowing down on my face and I take my hands to wipe them away to have a clear vision to see my father in front of me.

"Noctis. I know how you feel. But if you calm yourself down for a minute, you would understand, that everything has a purpose. Every conscious being has a freewill. And every being has their own time and place to become aware of itself and to grow. Imagine now suddenly the whole world would know the whole truth. What do you think would happen overnight?"

"I ..." Well, I don't know.

"I will tell you what. You would have broken every metaphysical rule, that is stating firmly to not override, under any circumstances, the freewill of beings having a lower awareness as yourself. All higher beings must abide to this rule, to not interfere into the destiny of a lower conscious being without said being's own explicit permission. Do you now see, where this is going?"

"Yes, I see that there is no end to this! It is a struggle that goes far back into the primordial past and will go on further into the far future. Then why struggle and suffer at all, when there is no end in sight?" I know that this must be the angry side of me speaking, because inside of myself I already know the answer to this.

My father is looking at me in compassion, fully understanding my frustration and not berating me for it. He is coming up to me to give me a tight hug and I close my eyes as I feel his infinite love for me. "Because Noctis, suffering is the best teacher for all lost souls. Only through us overcoming all suffering, can we transcend our lower selves and become wise, strong, compassionate and pure once more. Suffering is the trigger, the catalyst, to start the decomposition of a stagnant existence. It is an absolutely essential part of our evolution as infinite spiritual beings. True love being the only counterpart to suffering, that can ease the pain and gift's us with the profound knowledge that suffering is not infinite, but true love is."

My angry tears transform into sad tears, as my father is caressing my back tenderly.

In this moment, humanity's pain became my own pain.

And I cry and I now suffer greatly, because I can't just tell everyone the truth.

Because every human being must follow their own unique destiny, learn through their own mistakes and suffer through their own intended fates ... to hopefully become one day fully aware of their very own inner spark of light, while nurturing this light, letting it grow wise, strong and compassionate.

This inner light will guide everyone to their inevitable future Higher Selves ...

... and once fully aware of ourselves, we will go back home.

To our true, original home, the Kingdom of Heaven.

...

to be continued :).


	7. The Archeans-Part Two Prompto POV

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well?

Well here it is, the next chapter. Not as long as the previous ones, as I didn't have that much time to write on it. But I am continuing to work hard on the evolving story, as now I have a definite direction on how to complete everything.

This part is focused completely on Prom and Noct, as this will be the last time for a long while where they have such a fluffy, smutty and funny time together. Things will get serious from the next chapter onward, yup.

Ravus is the guy with the hood, the one who looks like a member of Assasins Creed (UPDATE: he's now officially revealed as Ravus Nox Fleuret, Luna's brother!). In my story, he is the son of King Eldercapt of Niflheim and they have the Crystal of Lucis. Ravus in my story also is Prompto's older brother because Luna doesn't exist in this plot, yep!

I dedicate this chapter to my dear reader LisAlice :), enjoy it my dear! Thank you all for reading so far!

**Warnings**: yaoi (m/m sex), mild language ...

Enjoy reading everyone!

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter 07: The Archeans Part Two - Prompto POV**

**...**

It is dark outside and I stretch my body on the bed, groaning in pleasure. Ignis has woken us up to eat something. It seems we have slept through the whole afternoon and now I feel well rested.

Ever since Noct has woken up, he has been very silent.

And right now he is so very tender and so gentle to me. My heart is threatening to burst with affection for him. He is kissing me oh so softly all over and embracing and caressing me so soothingly that, good Lord, I believe to be melting inside of his secure arms anytime soon if he doesn't stop.

He makes me... how to describe this...

I finally feel complete.

Yeah, this is how he makes me feel.

Complete.

This is such an alien feeling for me. It is so grounding and absolute, that I seriously start to fear myself now. I don't know who I am anymore.

Do I even deserve to be loved like this?

What I have known all my life so far was, how to be shunned and be hated by others. Nobody has ever taken their time and energy to learn about my true self properly - as properly as Noct, Ignis and Gladio did.

I only knew of how all other people judged me for what my family once far back into the past apparently did. We all were fugitives from a distant northern territory, where we fled from a horrible war that was taking place at that time. I don't have any exact memories about that specific time and place, guess I've been too young.

Today, some elitist people in Lucis are still frowning down upon me. They somehow put that blame on me, saying my family was not strong and not loyal enough to fight in such a meaningless war.

For these people, dying seems to be more glorious, than surviving and saving many more lifes in return.

As Noct said to me so many times before, my family did the right thing. Had they not chosen to leave the country, I would not be alive today. If I could ever meet my family one more time, I would cry my heart out in my deepest gratitude. Because, their brave past actions have allowed me to stay alive, to become the human being that I am today. Without them, there would be no royal family of Lucis to adopt me into their midst. I wouldn't have led such a good life alongside my new friends and new familiy.

And I wouldn't have met Noct... and wouldn't have fallen so hard in love with somebody so special. And I wouldn't know of such a rare and meaningful connection, that Noct and I seem to share.

As the only surviving fugitive, I feel it is my duty and honor to become the person my family always wanted me to be. And all thanks to Noct, who is so strong, so compassionate and so damn good to me, I do not only believe, I now know, that I can become that person they have envisioned.

I won't leave his side for the world. And I'll follow him even beyond this world if needed.

I smile fondly at him when he is glancing up into my eyes, as if reading my mind.

It's like we need no words anymore, because the soft look in our eyes is more than sufficient for us to communicate our mutual feelings to each other. For two guys, at our young age, this over-emotional behaviour and understanding is extremely unusual and rare. We behave like two very old souls, that finally have found each other again...

And well, this is what I think we truly are.

Old souls.

He is making me feel so precious. A deep unknown urge is making me to want to merge entirely into his being, to crawl literally into his heart. To become one with him in absolutely everything.

Is something like this even possible? If the both of us were to be pure energy beings, how would sex work and feel like? Would it be the kind of merging that my heart is longing for, but because of our current and limited physical bodies this all-encompassing urge to merge can't be achieved?

My hand reaches upwards to stroke over the side of his beautiful face. He seems to know what I am thinking right now, because he is taking me even more tightly into his arms and kisses my forehead lovingly in answer.

Lord. I didn't know he could be this endearing. And I love every second of it.

I think, today, I just fell for him all over again.

A few hours back, when we were bathing together, he took his time and energy to clean my body first. And that was such a selfless action for him, it made my heart melt. I know that he was tired as hell, and still, he was truly making love to me, with his beautiful hands and his tender caresses, his soft kisses on my skin. And my heart and body couldn't help but respond, even when I was dead tired inside.

And when it was my turn to pleasure him and return my affections, I felt that he was as aroused as I was. And I just had to touch him. All of a sudden a raging desire inside of me wanted us to completely liquefy our being into one. It was not only lust - not only in the sense we as humans might understand. The emotions were much more complex, complicated even. This need for him grew so strong, that I hoped my hand touching his hard arousal would wake up his need and passion once more and would once again overcome his tiredness to fulfill my deep and selfish wish to merge...

And by all that is holy, trust Noct to do everything in an intense and thorough way.

I've heard people say, that sex becomes better and better with time... and I have to agree now. The first time was amazing. His alien power had merged with my life force for the first time, so both of us were totally under it's influence. Noct's force has been acting as a huge aphrodisiac for both of us. But, the second time we joined, Noct and I were definitely more in control of ourselves and this time I could feel every inch of him, I was more aware of his distinct desire and love for me. Our second time has been incredibly amazing. I couldn't make any sounds of pleasure at all. It felt -that- damn good. After Noct heaved us out of the bathtub, it was only a matter of mere seconds until he was making me entirely delirious and drunk with ecstasy. Every fiber of my being was burning up with his intensity, from his focused thrusts, my head was reeling with a sheer bottomless and pure craving for more that I almost couldn't breath properly whenever he pounded hard into me and brought me higher and higher with each measured thrust of his strong hips.

Where did he learn to do that? He was amazing...

Hell, just thinking about it makes me want to seduce him again, for us to fall hungrily over each other once more. It's as if there is a place inside me that only he can fill up with his essence - metaphorically and literally speaking. I still have to adapt to this intense and constant craving that I have for his touch. It's madly addictive.

My body is giving a deep shudder with want, my fingers shaking slightly against the soft skin of his face and Noct is rising his eyebrows immediately at my involuntary reaction to my lecherous thoughts. I quickly look down, licking over my lips and feeling a bit ashamed of myself when I feel my erection rising against his belly.

Seriously, I have no self-control over my nether regions whatsoever.

Squeezing my eyes shut in nervous anticipation to his reaction, I feel how he's grasping my chin gently, rising my face up to him so that he can look up straight into my eyes.

And from the look on his face, I know how terrible I am at trying to hide my emotions from him - because he already knows.

A sexy, beautiful smile is appearing on his face while he is teasing me with a slight nudge of his nose against mine. "You are insatiable...", he murmurs somewhat breathlessly and almost touching my lips with his soft ones.

I manage to back away a bit to hide my red face with my hands. My trembling voice muffled as I say back: "It's entirely your fault. It's the only thing I can think about, because you feel so good inside of me... I can't stop wanting you to touch me all over again."

He is taking my hands into his own and looking intently at my red face for some long, silent moments. "Prom, you don't know how I madly, badly wish we had all the time in the world to make love for hours, for days, for weeks and for months, until our body and minds are deeply and completely sated for a long, long while." I give a longing sigh at the images that his words induce in my groin. He is caressing my bottom lip with his thumb as he is continuing to say: "But for now, I can only promise you, that as soon as there is the time and place for it, I'll fullfill every secret fantasy and erotic wish that you have. Just so you know, you are not alone, I am as insatiable as yourself." He is guiding one of my hands to his groin and a hungry gasp is escaping me at the feeling of his arousal against my fingers.

With regret lacing his voice, he whispers before he is giving the tip of my nose a peck: "But, we will have to wait."

"Oh damn it all to hell Noct, I know this is such a selfish thing to say, as there are so many duties and important obligations waiting for you, for us, but you don't know how much I look forward for that time and place to finally come. Honestly, I barely can't hold myself back from touching you all over. The pull between us is so damn strong and I love you so damn much!". I hold his face with my shaking hands and refrain from kissing his lips, not daring to initiate anything that would make me lose control, so I kiss his chin instead, trembling inside when I say: "Noct, you drive me completely out of my mind these days. Really." I moan in deep frustration and hide my face against his warm neck, my arms pulling him tightly towards me, burying my nose deep into his soft hair strands. Just savouring his warmth and presence and heady scent all around me.

He is nuzzling his face lovingly against me in return and I feel his smiling lips on my skin. Suddenly I do remember him saying something very interesting that I just can't leave unspoken. "I think... I just heard you say that... you'll fullfill every secret fantasy of mine?"

"Yes.", he replies huskily, clearing his throat once and drawing away to watch me curiously as my fingers start to play with his soft hairstrands.

"Do you... want to hear one of my fantasies right now?"

His eyes are widening with interest and he is nodding once, gulping slightly. And I chuckle at the eager expression in his eyes. "Hmmh, let's see ..." I rise my hand to my chin to look like being entirely lost in thought. "Ah, I have found one ... but well, it's kind of a mix of two games actually, like the ones called hide and seek and catch me if you dare. Only the adult X-rated versions of it." His eyebrows disappear behind his dark fringe. Now I have his thorough attention, so I continue: "I would love to... experience the thrill of playfully being chased, trapped and captured by you... it's nothing really outrageous in that sense, but this is one of my biggest fantasies that I have. Just do it spontaneously, sometime when it's dark outside. I want to be surprised." I wiggle my eyebrows teasingly at him.

He is openly smirking at me now, eyes twinkling and showing his playful side as he is proping up his elbow on the pillow below him, supporting his head with his hand. His fringe is falling a bit over his blue eyes as he is simultaneously eating me up with them. "Heh, sounds fun... I can already see it happening. So, let's do this as soon as it's possible. Anything more you'd like to share?"

Now his attitude is downright sexy. He loves this.

A pang of deep desire is rushing through me as I fight with myself not to suddenly tackle his body and... do ero-stuff to him.

Come on Prompto, get a hold of yourself! You are stronger than this.

How in the world could I ever refuse to spill my darkest, most erotic fantasies to him, seeing him opening up like that? The only downside (or upside) is, that all these intimate confessions do not really help on cooling us down. ...so... let's see where this is going.

"Well... another fantasy of mine, is to give you a very intimate and thorough massage. Starting like a normal one would, you know? Spreading lavishly some tantalizing scented massage oil over your bare skin and then the palms of my hands begin to massage the muscles on your neck, shoulders and back ... then my fingers would knead and move very slowly, very firmly, lower and much lower to your slim hips, then to your sexy backside and I think this is the place where my hands will be intensely occupied for a very long, long time." I can see his eyes growing wide with interest. "And after I got your thorough attention, instead of pleasuring you where you would want me the most, I would move lower, kneading your firm thighs for some time, the solid calf of your legs, and the skin of your sexy feet, being careful to not miss even an inch of your skin and rippling muscles, until you cry out for more firm touches further up ... by then, well, I would start kneading your entire flesh upwards and further upwards... a few inches higher... very slowly, very temptingly, seducing you with my touch..."

I lean forward to almost touch my lips to his to whisper my intentions to him more intimately. All the while he is staring totally captivated and fascinated into my eyes, his breathing becoming labored with each word that tickles his mouth. "And then... my lips and tongue would follow the trail of my hands and as I start to lick you clean, and as my lips are marking you in all the right places, my fingers begin to explore uncharted territory on your unblemished soft skin ... and I savour the erotic sounds that you make while giving you the same pleasure that you have given me so many times before. I want to drive you absolutely mad with my tongue and ... my fingers teasing and sliding deep inside that hidden place of yours, the tip of my tongue following inside and..."

Our breaths hitch at the same time.

His forehead is now leaning on mine, our eyes closing down in mutual longing for each other. And then I whisper full of desire: "Noct, damn, let's just stop here. I'm a hot mess inside. I'll not be able to calm my cock down if we continue to talk about these subjects any longer. Just... Gods, please, just read that sex magic book that Ignis gave you. Most of my fantasies have arisen from its detailed content and this should give you some good ideas about the rest."

He doesn't say anything in return. I can only hear his excited sounding breaths, the air he exhales puffing and tickling my skin. I lick over my dry lips, touching lightly his bottom lip with the tip of my tongue. Risking a quck sneak up to his eyes, the sounds of my blood are rushing in my veins loudly enough for my ears to ring uncomfortably as I get to see his cheeks flushed a beautiful red from his arousal, a hue of red appearing around his irises, glowing eyes which are only half-open, staring somewhere far ahead of him, seemingly totally lost inside the fantasy that I just narrated to him.

"Noct..." I whisper his name to get his attention, almost moaning his name as I feel his power calling for me.

Once he snaps back to reality, he tells me something that makes my heart start to beat frantically. "Prom, what you just confessed is the same fantasy, that I have of you as well ... I want pleasure you in the same way ... let's try this next time, when we have a whole night for ourselves." I just give a slight nod with my head in response, restraining myself from doing anything that is sexually related, especially when he is opening his mouth, and my eyes stray to fix themselves hungrily on his flexible tongue darting out to moisten his lower lip. As he realizes the lustful expression on my face, he swears in a hoarse voice, "Fuck, the lewd things I want to do with you right now... "

His hand shoots forward, grasping around the nape of my neck, fingers sliding up to the back of my head to push my surprised lips firmly onto his waiting ones and his tongue already ravishes my mouth as if wanting to swallow me whole. I moan keenly as he is falling back onto the pillow, pulling me down with him to lie fully on his nude body - neither of us were sleeping with clothes on as they were still damp and dirty a few hours ago. And then he proceeds to knead my unclad bottom cheeks with his skilled hands lustfully against his groin and our hips align and are starting to move all on their own while our kisses intensify. My legs are spreading on each side of his slim hips to have better control over my thrusts, rubbing our arousals sensually with each moment of my hips over his. My hands grasp frantically the sides of his face while we kiss wetly and deeply and we groan out passionately, and holy shit, now I'm absolutely sure that we won't stop ourselves from devouring each other! So I break our kiss with a gasp, propping up my upper body on my elbow beside him, and without pondering for too long, I take both of our hard cocks into my hand and start pleasuring ourselves with swift and firm strokes, rubbing solid hot flesh against hot flesh, as we don't have much time now to venture into the more unrestricted erotic pleasures that we both crave at this moment.

Now it's my turn to study his beautiful face, as he is throwing his head back deep into the pillow behind him, black hair spreading all over the white fabric, ruffling the glossy hair strands up as he is stretching his delectable looking throat before me, bending his back erotically and swallowing hard after letting out a lustful cry. A cry which I can only answer with much needier strokes of my now slippery hand, and I close my eyes to focus on my ministrations when I feel that the tendrils of his power begin to support our mutual pleasure. And if I'm not completely wrong, for the very first time, he is feeling the same intense pleasure that his power only gave to me until now. I can read this from his expressions reactions, because right in this moment I watch him looking up at the ceiling with wide, glowing red eyes and he is groaning out in such a stimulating way, that I can feel ourselves instantly inching closer to climax.

I sense my inner intuition, as it is making me suddenly aware of the possibility to control his tendrils of magic with my will as well, now that our life forces have been bound together, and a rush of something so -carnal- is taking a hold of my muddled brain! I suddenly want to gift him back all the untold pleasures he had given me before and I focus intensely on the magic tendrils to charge with my life force and to move every fiber of his alien power to enter the untouched spot between his sexy buttocks and for them to concentrate and stroke relentlessly over his sensitive point of pleasure deep within, over and over and over again. The same movements, the same pleasuring, as he did so many times to me, hoping he is loving and enjoying this as much as I did. Just from remembering how intense and amazing this feels, I let out a craving moan for him as my rapidly stroking hand, now wet with precum and sweat, is gliding so deliciously over our hard cocks to bring us over the edge. I have now a hard time focusing on anything else.

And holy hell ...

I gasp out loud at his natural sultry movements under me, because he is seriously too sensual right now! I drink up every move and sound that he makes with huge greed!

His back is now bending even more, his chest touching mine, his limbs trembling all over, his beautiful hands balled into tight fists and clutching the blanket beneath him in a fierce grip with his long fingers, the muscles on his arms strained and the veins on his skin visible, which are throbbing with unadulterated need for more. The incredible sight before me makes me almost lose my mind. And then his head is moving rapidly from side to side, sounds of raw pleasure escaping from his wide open lips, his face bearing an absolute titillating expression. And just when he is glancing deep into my eyes my breathing stops.

Gods ... this heavy look of passion in his eyes should be forbidden, he is capturing me, begging me, pleading with me, as if not sure if I should end this heart-stopping erotic torture or if I should intensify all these mad feelings inside of him even more. Locked with him in a sexual haze I decide to do the latter, lavishing onto him everything that I feel for him at once, trying to fill up every single pore of his heated skin in his immense carnal need. I'm almost drowning deep down into those beautiful red eyes of his, which now are slowly rolling back inside of his eyelids while they close tightly, hiding themselves from me. And I earn a keen, immersed groan from his lips that makes my cock twitch eagerly against his. These simultaneous raw sensations, the sexual impressions both on his painfully hard cock in the front and on his sensitive prostata deep inside on the back are shattering his senses with a blast. His white teeth start clenching visibly from the growing arousing pressure, harsh inhales and exhales escaping him through his slender nose, and then he is stretching his head far back into the pillow once more to rise his hips up and with a prolonged pure wild cry he is spurting his hot seed all over my hand and up to his sexy chest.

Never in my life did I have the pleasure to watch something as hot and beautiful and intimate as the sight of Noct coming apart from pleasure before my eyes!

His hot cock pulsing and twitching madly and making my hand strokes even more slippery, bringing me not even a second later over the edge as well, the expressions on his face far too erotic for words! "Oh God, Noct!" I cry out his name hoarsely as the almost violent climax is robbing me of my breath and is rending me mindless with the spiking pleasures it brings!

We are both groaning and whimpering from the bewitching feelings, the craving for each other momentarily sated as my strokes on our softening cocks do lessen, my now wet hand continuing to pleasure our spent flesh, squeezing every bit of lustful drop out of them until they become so sensitive that I need to let go. My trembling fingers now coated fully with the evidence of our unbelievable sensual experience.

Noct is so incredibly beautiful, it's painful in a good way to watch him catch his breath ...

He is pulling me down on him, almost crushing me with his last strength and I start to feel very dizzy with the pleasure of our strong afterglow. I immediately hug him tightly back and I bury my face deep into his neck, kissing his damp skin there and waiting out, until our irregular breaths and furious heartbeats slowly return back to normal. His shaky hands are stroking in languid, gentle movements over the entire skin of my back that is soaked in fresh sweat.

I just have two words for what just happened ...

Heaven and Hell!

With us there is nothing boring, nothing dull and lifeless, it's unbelieveable.

He is kissing the top of my head once and then drawing weakly the blanket over ourselves, just in case the guys outside decide to burst into the caravan right at this moment.

After a long while, where we are just lying there in sated silence, caressing each other lovingly, he suddenly jokes with an absolute erotic and husky voice: "Would you mind terribly, if my brain just left this galaxy to meet yours somewhere over the rainbow, keeping you company for a while? Because it spontaneously decided to stay over there and I fear it won't come back anytime soon."

I burst out in laughter, clutching him tighter, my body shaking in amusement while replying jokingly back: "At least there are now two of us. Utterly brainless guys, but sexy as hell."

He is letting a low sensual chuckle out, continuing the fun banter: "Yes, sexy as hell. This should suffice to keep our mind-blowing sexual relationship going. No need to fear for any exploding brains inside of our empty skulls, as they have already left prematurely for honeymoon - far away and far ahead of their own schedule."

We laugh outloud at our brainless selves, caressing each others skins fondly.

"Wait. This implies our brains have already been married. Imagine now their combined intellectual outpourings! They could become legendary!"

Noct is snorting a laugh and then adding: "If these legendary outpourings are anywhere near as close as the shocking orgasms that we continue to live to feel, than we have definitely surpassed Ignis with his formidable and frustratingly big brain of his. We just need to patiently wait until the honeymoon is over, for our sated brains to wobble their way back home into their sexy bodies and join us to this ongoing fierce intellectual battle between him and us."

Chuckling, I lean sideways to have a better look at his face, my eyes shining in amusement right as he is stealing a mirthful glance at me. I grin back in response, knowing that he just came up with some crazy, but hilarious theory, so I continue to listen intently.

He is laughing softly at my anticipatory expression, articulating comically with his left hand in the empty air and then adding further: "Just imagine, our newlywed brains, no longer virgins, steeled with all kinds of convincing but dangerous words and sexy moves - skills collected and absorbed carefully from various occult languages of the foreign dimensions, where they just had very hot and bookish sex for the entire time, to dutifully learn the extremely volatile vocabulary, memorizing every sentence until they knew every sexual technique backwards."

I slap my palm over my forehead and laugh out at his broad sense of humor. "If I had only known what kind of images I would start rolling into this cute head of yours, with the Sex Magic-book and all the funny no-brain talk. What have I done?! Our brains will never recuperate!"

"Oh hush. Just wait until you heard everything." Now he is leaning sideways to face me fully, and is using his facial expressions as well, in addition to his hands, to boast and to exaggerate his high words of wisdom. And I can't help but laugh the entire time, tears appearing in my eyes because of overexerting my stomach so much, as he continues to tell his tale:

"Are you ready? Now beware! One epic battle of massive proportions begins! Our fully trained brains, filled with infinite prime sexual knowledge versus Ignis's brutally intelligent brain! Our brains dance their boozy-dance in tandem, shaking their fuzzy brainy cotton balls at Ignis, their fatal hits being a constant bullseye! The hits level up now to full orgasmic mathematical algorithms, confusing the hell out of everyone present and exeeding every expectation of any award-winning living or dead eminent scientist alike, as they are sitting in the front row with their stylish 3D-glasses to judge and to witness the ultimate defeat of Ignis and thus staggering him to his weak knees, all because of this smashing fusion of two totally overpowering, totally cosmic brain-tastic geniuses!"

He makes a thrilling pause and I widen my eyes playfully in eager wonder.

"But! Our brains are all of a sudden gasping in absolute terror, in dire need for more oxygen! Why? Because! Ignis suddenly brings out this secret weapon from under his sleeve! Kicking the brain-melting Sex Magic book with his feet masterfully in their direction! No evading possible! And now all present and non-present brains do prepare psychically and emotionally for the finishing blow. Why the preparation, you ask?! Because, our own brains just have that intense, love-struck expressions on their brainy faces, absorbing the beyond bees and flowers-Sex Magic book into themselves and they instantly cement their deep marriage with the Holy Red Bow, binding it proudly around their glistening foreheads, through this act the brains are becoming one! The special effects are amazing! They threaten to crack up Ignis's 3D-glasses sitting very high on his brain and hurting his fragile eyes in return! And for their last, supreme attack, they summon their brute Phantom Swords of Lust in bitter revenge! Ignis's brain is now completely falling apart, because all of a sudden, this final battle is culminating into this absolutely insane, crescending spiral of mad burning love! Furious hits after furious hits on his weakened brain, higher and deeper, until it reaches it's fulminant and blinding climax! Gushing it's effusions openly out into the universe! Surpassing even the high-point of the Big-Bang! It is melting everything within the radius of our galaxy with it's gigantic erruption, erasing every brainy evidence in existence! Only our sexy bodies are left standing. And for us to have that happy end that we crave, the sexy bodies live their brainless lives happily long after, having blissfully sex every day, every hour and every minute of their empty lifes. Hoping, that one day, new brains will grow out of their passionate mating. Which would probably start an ongoing cycle of reincarnation of Ignis's calculating brain, hence starting the epic battle all over again. And the sexual adventure continues."

We both roar out in laughter and I shake my head at him. "God! How do you always come up with this hilarious stuff?! It's genius! Crazy, that's what you are."

He is just stretching his tongue out at me in a cheeky way, wiggling it teasingly in front of my face and I immediately lean over to catch his tongue with mine, kissing the breath out of him. Enjoying his wet tongue playing with mine, while we look playfully into our eyes, he suddenly starts tickling me at my sides and I squeal out in laughter, trying to escape his evil clutches, almost ripping the bedlinen apart with my feet and almost falling down from our bed. But he is quickly catching me from behind and continuing to bite and tickle and kiss me silly. I scream breathlessly in laughter at him: "Stop! Ah! Gods! Noct! Please, spare me! Aaah! I surrender! Noct, stop!" and it's only half-heartily that I try to push at his arms, because I love his playful side and I know how much he is enjoying making me squirm and scream in a girl-ish way.

Finally he is letting go of me, ending the sweet torture and I'm lying on my back, trying my best to breath properly again, smiling at him widely and shaking my head in amusement at his antics. Then he is suddenly leaning over me, strong arms spread on each side of my head. His beautiful face smiling softly, and it is enhancing his attractive features so, so much ...

It's frightening at how I do love him. Inside and out ...

"Prom?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

My eyes return the soft look of his eyes. I know his thanks aren't meant only for today ... they are meant for our past, our present and for our future.

So I take his hand into mine, interlacing our fingers together. And I give him a honest and heartfelt reply.

"It's my pleasure."

...

_"And? Any new results?"_

_"Ah, Ravus. The Crystal of Lucis still isn't reacting properly. I don't understand, we have tried everything so far, but..."_

_"I see. Maybe the Crystal is still bound to the rightful heir of Lucis. We need to get a hold on him for the Crystal to submit completely to our wills."_

_"Why do you think the Crystal is bound to Noctis? Even King Regis didn't have this kind of control over the artifact. Never before has a Crystal been bound to a mere mortal as far as I know, its powers are too volatile."_

_"You are right, it shouldn't be possible. But something tells me that either the heir of Lucis is more than his family lets on, or he is additionally bound to a special someone, who in turn keeps the Crystal bound to him. Send everyone who is available to search for any leads to his lot. We need to find the Prince before my father does. Archean Titan has been awakened."_

_"Are you sure Ravus? That's madness! Titan, the Archean of the earth element, is the one who is the most unpredictable! He is beyond your father's control... what had he been thinking?"_

_"Wish I would know. When you find them, bring Prince Noctis here, it's time to look into his subconscious mind to find the answers you seek. The offer you made, the reason you are here, see that you provide us with the results. Our time runs thin."_

_"I understand. I can't thank you enough, Ravus."_

**...**

To be continued.


	8. The Archeans-Part Three Noctis POV

**AN: **Hey,

surprise, I was hardworking, the next chapter is now up :). Please listen to Omnis Lacrima (the Behemoth battle theme in the demo) if it is possible. I wrote this chapter while listening to this soundtrack for the whole time I was writing and it gives the battles a thrilling touch! Well, please enjoy!

If everything goes well, I might have the next chapter after this one also up in a few hours, have fun reading!

ben4kevin: hey :), thanks a lot for staying with me! Glad you like it so far.

LisAlice: You are very welcome, my dear. And of course, I'll grant your wish :). Hopefully the battles will be in the manner that you are anticipating them to be. Ah, Lord Dius is just the temporary name for the hood-guy. As soon as we know his proper name I shall dutifully rename him xD. In this story he will be the son of King Eldercapt. He will be the Prince of Niflheim. Thanks a lot for your support dear, enjoy!

ElektrikK9: hey there! Thank you very much for your encouraging words! I'll give my best with this story :).

...

**Chapter 8: The Archeans - Part Three**

"Do we have everything?" Ignis is taking a last look into the caravan of Wiz Chocobo Post, making sure we didn't forget anything. "Alright, let's get going. The Behemoth might be not that far away from here. We just need to follow the path further down from this hill."

Now that the hunt for the Behemoth becomes real, I feel a bit nervous. I look at Prom, who is standing beside me with a somewhat pale face and I lean over to his lips to kiss him once more. "Don't worry too much. Everything will be alright." He is nodding at me and taking my hand to squeeze it in thanks. Then we switch our flash lights on, as it is already dark outside. We decided to hunt Deadeye this evening, so that we can rest the night after and then pay for the car repairs immediately in the morning, to have our car back. There is a lot to do, lot's of subjects to research and a lot for us to prepare.

Suddenly, all of us feel this strange pressure in our guts, that something big will happen very soon. We need to set our plans into motion much earlier, than we originally thought.

Then I nod to everyone. "Well, let's go."

Gladio and Ignis are walking in front of us, guiding us to the final trail, that was leading us yesterday to where the Behemoth might be hiding. We are as silent as possible, to avoid any battles that would only exhaust everyone prematurely.

After walking for awhile, successfully avoiding two packs of sabertusks, we finally stand before the entrance of Deadeye's hiding place. We nod to each other, and tip-toe our way deep into the ruin very carefully. Untouched vegetation all around us, a thick fog is clouding our view further into this place, so we move nearer to the vegetated walls and bushes to secure our backs from any suprising attacks. Gladio is the first one who is leading us deeper into the hideout, and then we stop at once as he is signalling us with a quick hand gesture to halt our movements.

Just when he was about to start walking again, all of a sudden a huge pack of sabertusks are appearing and attacking us from every corner at once. Ignis is warning us: "Pay attention, everyone!" I instantly summon my ravage Avenger sword to start fighting them off in a chain of unstopping and rapid full thrusts and blows, the weapons varying quickly with each movement of my arms as I focus on each one to appear whenever my techniqes are changing. Even with my ability to see beyond the human spectrum of light, the darkness and fog around us is making it very hard for me to follow their fast-paced jumps. "Noct! Watch out!" Prompto is shooting his blocking bullets at the dark creature at my side, freezing it's body in the air for a few seconds, and I immediately rotate my entire body in it's direction, giving a loud cry as I spear it with the Partisan, slashing the sabertusk without mercy into the hard stone wall behind me. "Thanks Prom!" I see from the corner of my eye how Ignis is healing Gladio, one of the sabertusks seem to have bitten on his leg and injured him pretty badly. I grit my teeth in frustration. There are simply too many of them! As I run forward to protect those two from another incoming pack of these annoying animals, Prompto is giving a shout of pain. I turn my head in his direction and the sight is boiling my blood in anger. Prom is lying on the ground, being cornered by three sabertusks and one seems to have bitten him as well. Just when they are about to fully jump at his body, I activate my warp ability to teleport myself instantly before his feet, summon the Zweihänder into both of my hands and with a deep grunt I stab heavily at all three bodies in a finishing move, hurling them with a force as far back as possible, while listening at the collision on the grassy ground as their bodies give a satisfying thud. With a relieved smile we give each other a high five, then I warp back to Gladio, shouting to Ignis that Prom was bitten. He nods and rushes to Prom's side to heal him.

"There seems to be a whole colony of these monsters around here. What do you suggest we do?" Gladio is throwing off with all his might two of his attackers against the tree before him and is looking around for a loophole for us to run away.

I jump up high, the Wyvern Lance in my hands as I land directly on a clueless sabertusk behind Gladio to help him fight off some more, and then I shout back to him: "They will just follow us, if we don't find a way to eliminate them quickly we will exhaust ourselves too much!" My mind is working furiously to find a solution. The fight with Deadeye will be the hardest of all and then having all these sabertusks trailing behind us while we confront the Behemoth at the same time, would be impossible for us to manage. Think Noct! Running away is not an option. As this is the only entry to this hideout, there are no other ways to go inside from a different angle. Think!

Would I have more Phantom Swords by my side, the ancient weapons would make short work of their colony at once ...

God, that's it!

Phantom Swords!

"Gladio! I have something in mind, but it will put you all at risk. Take over for me for one minute!" My heart starts beating faster, as I look hastily around me to find a good spot to warp up to.

Gladio is growling at the wild critters before him and is shouting back: "Just hurry up with whatever you need to do!"

I squint my eyes at my surroundings, fear gripping over my heart as I hear Ignis cry out in pain and Prom fighting bravely to protect him. And finally! I gasp in relief when I see further above, just a few inches over the thick fog, the top of a transmission tower. I warp myself quickly up on the highest spot with one of my two Phantom Swords. Immediately I close my eyes to focus on the feeling that the aura of these mystical swords are giving me. With these feelings in my mind, I am trying to call all scattered swords around this area, my hope growing strong that there might be a chance for us to come out unscathed from this pressing situation.

And because I know now, that these swords have a consciousness of their own, I try to talk to them.

"Phantom Swords of Lucis! You have served King Regis Lucis Caelum until the bitter end, and I know, the contract hasn't been agreed properly upon my blood yet as the sole heir, for you to continue your duty the same way as the ancient rules do require, but my friends and I are in grave danger! I hereby summon all of you at my side, not to serve, but to protect us out of your own free will!"

My eyes are still closed very tightly, and with a furiously beating heart I wait for some very painful long moments. I can hear from here the pained grunts of my friends on the ground. I count every long second in my head, hoping and intending and calling in my mind with all I have, knowing that there is no time anymore to wait.

"Noct! Time is up! Ignis is unconscious and Prompto is injured!"

Damn these ancient contracts! Whoever invented them to tie magical artifacts to human beings by blood must have been totally deranged!

I let out a loud curse and prepare myself to jump down, my Wyvern Lance ready at my call, trying not to be dissapointed that the Phantom Swords are not answering to my plea. And then I let myself fall down, right into the deep fog below me and all of a sudden five Phantom Swords fly at my direction with such a speed, that I need to cry out in surprise from the impact, as they glow brightly and melt abruptly into my floating body. Merging with my inner power, waking it up as my eyes change their colour to red. With deep feelings of gratitude for their support, I land on my feet, falling down on my knees on the ground right behind Gladio, hearing him breathing hard with extertion. "What the hell took you so long?"

With a deadly serious look in my eyes, I raise my body up and just when he is looking over his shoulder at me I shout to him: "Take Ignis and Prompto as far away as possible!"

He is frowning at me for a moment, seeing my red glowing eyes. Not questioning my command, he is immediately rushing forward to help Prom up and I see them carrying Ignis far back into the field behind me, the fog making them almost invisible. Then I look in front of me again, eyes glowing with the intent to kill.

The sabertusks around me are closing in, whining loudly, growling and snarling at me as they creep slowly forward. God, there must be literally hundreds of them living here, as they do keep coming and coming from somewhere further deep inside of this hideout. And I wonder briefly, how the hell can they still be alive with Deadeye using this ruin as his hiding place? I give a snort, probably they taste as disgusting as they look on the outside.

Suddenly the first row of animals start to run, closing very fast the distance between us and just as they jump high at me I activate the Armiger with a blast, blowing the first row of sabertusks with a hard thud against the walls around me. All seven Phantom Swords glowing and closing in a secure circle around me, spinning and protecting me from any incoming attack while they warp themselves in succession to stab mercilessly at any enemy intending to harm me.

With a roaring howl every animal in close range is rushing forward to attack, all at the same time, and I warp myself very high up in the air, only to warp down again to appear inches over their bodies to slash furiously at their weak points and eliminating one after another in a rushing tempo. My blood is pumping with adrenaline, as my inner power is keeping the magic flowing and I am very thankful at this moment for Prompto's life force. Without his help my magic would have run out by now and without the Armiger I wouldn't be able to clear out this place of all sabertusks at all. So I speed up my movements, plunging my weapons with each warp deeply into their bony figures, hearing their whines and howls, all the while relentlessly decimating their kind. From the outside I might look like a flash of light, appearing and disappearing from place to place, whirls of light following my body and blending with the fog around me whenever my weapons hit the enemies successfully through the air. The exhilarating feeling of being free, of flying around, is pushing my excitement in this fight to it's limit and I become even faster, my focus grows even sharper with every hit that I land. I never knew the Armiger would feel that powerful. And all of this only with seven swords so far. It's incredible!

After more precise stabs and slashes at their bodies, the end is finally in sight. One sabertusk is jumping, trying to bite at my leg from behind, but it's body is instantly repelled by the Phantom Swords, it's collision on the ground severe and the body instantly dying. My own body feels light as a feather as I strike down the last remaining wild animals and then land on my feet with a hard thump on the grassy ground, swords still acting as a barrier around me and I take a final look at my surroundings, waiting. Only now do I realize that their bodies have somehow completely disappeared.

"Noct! Are you alright?" Prom is rushing over to me, Gladio and a healthy Ignis following. "Dear Lord! That's the Armiger!" The guys are staring shell-shocked at the mystical swords that are still protecting me. Ignis is stepping forward "But how? You only had two ancient swords so far."

"I deeply apologize to all of you for letting these creatures hurt you. But I had suddenly this insane idea to call upon the Phantom Swords around this area. And they answered my call! Without a proper contract! I still can't believe it ..." I look at my hands, as my will focuses on the Armiger to stop it's protection for now, my body still feeling energized enough to take on Deadeye and then I look at Prom with a soft look in my eyes. "It's all thanks to you Prom. My magic grew stronger." He is beaming up at me and nodding. Then I look at Gladio and Ignis. "Thank you guys and again, I am sorry, but there was no room for explanations for what I intended to do."

Gladio is suddenly laughing out loud, as he is telling us relieved: "We are alive and well, that's the most important thing now!" And Ignis is walking towards me to lay his hand on my shoulder. "It may have been insane, but you did well to listen to your intuition. Thanks to that, we are free to go deeper into the ruin without further interferences."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move forward!" Gladio is leading again and we are following silently behind him.

Prom is then halting me for a moment, as he is pulling me into him to kiss me softly on my lips. "I'm glad you are alright." He is drawing back with a gentle smile and I just kiss him one more time with a smile of my own, and then take his hand into mine. "Come."

As we finally reach the inner area of the ruin, we can hear distant snoring. The sounds informing us of Deadeye sleeping deeply. Ignis is now the one leading us, stopping behind a destroyed wall, as we all kneel behind it and he starts relating his plan with a soft voice. "Now listen closely, each one of us will need to do his part if we're to succeed. Noct, you are to wake up and lure the cat out of his deep sleep into the middle area of this place." I just nod to him, my blood still pulsing with the adrenaline from earlier. He continues, while starting to move ahead first, sneaking with his feet silently forward: "Let me walk you all through the plan. Follow me."

We all rush as quietly as possible behind him, running a small hill down until we reach a gas tank and we stop before it. Ignis is gesturing for Prom to come forward. "You will position yourself over there on the hill. Just fire one of your most volatile bullets on the gas tank to set off a huge blast, set the timing shortly afterwards when Noct has lured Deadeye into your shooting range." Prom is nodding seriously and with a final wink at me, he is running up the hill once more to get to his position and making himself ready, pulling his gun from the holder on his waist.

Then we follow Ignis further ahead, as he is stopping before a huge wall, just a few inches away from a transmission tower, to tell Gladio his part. "Gladio, you will lay in wait and immediately attack from the cat's blind spot, distracting it until the gas tank is blowing off, hopefully the explosion will weaken Deadeye enough for Noct to finish him off with only one hit." Gladio is then positioning himself as well, grinning widely, while saying to me: "Good luck." I only smirk back at him, glad for his humorous approach as it does lessen my rising nervousness somewhat.

Now there is only Ignis and me, running the last steps before the final wall, that is separating the Behemoth from us. "You will wake Deadeye, warp back to us with the beast in tow as quickly as possible, and amid the chaos of the blast, land the finishing blow at him." He is adjusting his glasses, making himself ready to protect me from his hiding spot just in case something goes wrong. I nod at him, saying softly: "Alright, leave it to me."

Taking first a good look around me, assessing the best spots to warp myself to and finding a few scattered disabled transmission towers in my close proximity that are ideal for the plan to be successful, I run up to the sleeping giant cat making as much noise as possible to alert him of my presence. Instantly he is rising his head to look in my direction and with a deep growl he is standing up and immediately jumping down from the high place, from where he just slept very deeply, to hunt me down with huge running footsteps. Dear God, Deadeye is a massive beast! Seeing him now so closely, my heart starts beating furiously in my chest as I turn myself around, running forward and just as the beast is rising his huge claw to hit me down I trigger my warping ability to disappear from his hitting range, appearing high up on one of the towers. Deadeye is now growling louder, following me and with a grunt I warp myself onto the next tower, and then again after he is closing the distance between us. I trigger one final warp, placing myself high up on the last transmission tower in front of the gas tank and wait there for our plan to unfold.

Gladio is running at the beast's blind-side on the back, slashing with the Zweihänder directly at the left thigh in front of him, while Deadeye is giving a pained howl and looking confused around as he is stopping his huge claws, now standing directly at the tank, where I hear Prom shooting a bullet precisely into the middle of it to blow it off in a grand explosion. The flames engulf the entire huge body of the beast, all the while we hear him whining and growling in pain. And just when the blazing flames cool down enough for me to be safe, I warp down onto Deadeye's large back and with a loud cry I stab my most vigorous Phantom Sword hard into his muscles, ripping the flesh and cutting deeply through his bones. With a hard thud the beast is falling down onto the ground and I hold onto my sword tightly, closing my eyes, as the impact is almost throwing me off his back. I hear the guys coming over, their joyful cries and laughter at being successful are infectious and I look over just when Prom and Gladio give each other another high five and see a relieved Ignis nodding back at all of us.

I find myself laughing in relief as well, slowly standing up and vanishing the sword as it has become useless. But just when I want to jump down, the beast is growling once more, it's trembling body heaving itself up with vehemence and with a heavy shake he is throwing me off of his strong back behind him and I cry out in surprise and pain from the forceful impact on the ground, and I roll downward a few times, only to land somewhere further back from it's huge body. The collision is wounding my entire body instantly immobile. I let out some vicious painful groans and coughs as I feel inside of my chest that some of my ribs seem to be broken.

"Noct!" The guys are rushing at my side, Ignis crouching down beside me to look for any injuries. From the corner of my eyes I see the beast rising his claw at Prom, hitting him with force against the wall behind him, his bullets having absolutely no impact upon the hard muscles before him, and then I see how Gladio is rushing to stand protectively before Prom, rising his sword against Deadeye, but the angry beast is already knocking him out of the way, howling out a terrifying sound that is chilling our bodies to the bones.

I grip tightly on Ignis arm with my shaky hand. "Run!" I shout to him, coughing out the first drops of blood out of my throat. Deadeye already fixing his stare at us and making himself ready to jump on his prey. Ignis is looking desperately into my eyes. "Just take the guys and run far away from here! Trust me!", I cry out forcefully, making him understand that they can't stay here. All the while the area around us is becoming darker and darker, angry looking clouds are closing in on the sky above us and hiding the full moon. "Let me at least heal you!" Ignis is placing his palms over my chest, preparing himself to cast Cure at me, but my hands are instantly stopping him. "No!" I need to cough out more blood, the movement of my chest hurting like hell. "Ignis! Just do as I say! This is an order!" His displeasure palpable on his face, as he is grudgingly standing up and leaving my side to save Prom and Gladio and hopefully running very far away from this place. Prom is screaming at Ignis and cursing at him for leaving me here all alone, but it seems Gladio has taken already a hold on him to drag him with force from this place. My heart is beating madly with such a deep love for him, as I know how painful it must be for him to leave me behind.

I look up at the furious drumming sky, violet lightning bolts are roving above us and I force myself to lay on my back, wincing because of the burning pain on my broken ribs. I see the violet lightning bolts now appearing all around me, their constant hits on the ground heating up the air and making my body tremble, resonating deep within me, reverberating on my inner power, summoning the natural lightning elements from the sky to aid and function as my protection. I can hear Deadeye's enraged growls coming closer and I close my eyes tightly, preparing myself for the painful impact as the beast is striking down on my legs and I scream out in agony, hearing Prom's heartful cries for my name somewhere farther back. Good God! That was painful as hell!

Then a clashing lightning bold is striking around us, almost robbing me of my sense of hearing and I open my eyes to slits to get a glimpse of what is happening here. And suddenly a huge hand is materializing beside me and I feel it's soft grip on my hurt body as it is tightening me securely inside of it's palm. I ignore the deep pain as I hold onto it's fingers and I look up, only to hear myself gasp in absolute awe at the sight before me. This must be Ramuh, master of the lightning element! My father already told me about this elemental being, but to see him with my very own mortal eyes is truly an out of this world experience!

I feel his left hand closing fully around me and now he is lifting his arm high up to the level of his shoulder, his human looking face staring intensly at me as if assessing my injuries and I cry out in pain, because he is instanly healing my ribs with some burning lightning bolts into my chest, sizzling brightly from the inside of his huge palm. And finally I can breathe much easier, the pain vanishing completely and only now do I realize how close I was from dying. Sending Ramuh my deepest gratitude for his protection, his eyes glow brightly in answer and then he is rising his awe-inspiring magical rod high into the sky above us. I feel electrical charges all around us, collecting every bit of energy from nature, focusing intently into a huge ball of lightning that is promising a fatal destruction to come. My hairs are rising up on my body from the powerful force, making me dizzy with it's strength and with a final movement of his charged magical staff, Ramuh is raising the lightning storm around us to it's highest levels to thunder his immense power viciously upon the defenceless Behemoth below us with a deafening nasty bang! Reducing everything around us instantly to ashes! Deadeye didn't even have the time to howl out his last breath, the collision of this power having been too extreme.

After the blazing area settles down, Ramuh is moving his arm slowly downwards and as his hand touches the ground he opens his palm to let me jump down. I turn around to look up once more in gratitude at him and I think his glowing eyes are smiling back at me, bowing his head slightly in return and I can only gape totally awe-struck as his entire form dissolves into a myriad of beautiful shimmering colourful lights, caressing the vegetation around us to heal everything back to it's original form. And I smile relieved, because Ramuh was indeed not created for pure destruction. The only one not healing is the Behemoth lying dead before me and I squint my eyes at his charred back, when I identify a Phantom Sword sticking out of his back. How come I didn't see this one before? I rush over to take a hold of it, feeling it merging with the other ancient swords inside of me, their power growing with each additional sword that is joining my inner power.

"Noct!"

A relieved sigh is escaping me when I hear the guys running once again toward me, with a crying Prom in front as he is rushing forward to jump at me forcefully and embracing me in his tears, knocking me almost down. "Noct! Good God, I was so afraid!" He is then holding my face to look better at me, relief clearly visible in his eyes, trails of tears glistening on his cheeks and my heart is squeezing in pain at having scared him that much. "I am sorry ..." He is only shaking his head and then is taking a tissue out of his pocket and cleaning my blood stained chin. "Are you still hurt anywhere?" He is looking with a concerned frown into my eyes. "No, Ramuh has been healing me. I'm alright now."

Gladio is slapping me hard once on my back. "Kindly warn us the next time, of what is going on in this reckless head of yours, we really thought we were leaving you to die here!" I gulp down my rising shame, seeing him so emotionally ruffled is making me feel like a kid once more. But before I can open my mouth to say my apology he is grabbing me hard into his body to hug the hell out of me. "You don't know how glad we are that you are alright!" I glance sideways as Ignis is stepping forward. God! If looks could kill I would instantly fall down on the ground below me and never stand up again!

Gladio is letting me go and Prom is making room for Ignis to close the distance between us and I duck my head, closing my eyes tightly as I wait for his retribution that I deserve to come.

But ... nothing happens.

I open one eye to look at his face again and I give a sudden start at his expression. We have fought many hard battles in the past, and we have helped each other more times than I can count and we have survived some pretty horrible fights. But I have never seen him afterwards with such a deep relieved smile on his face, as he is looking at me now. From all of us, Ignis was the least touchy-feeling person in our group. And for the first time, he is closing in swiftly and is hugging me very tightly to his chest. His arms almost hurting my back, because of the strength with which he is holding me. I close my eyes once again, my head resting on his shoulder, feeling hot tears coming out of them as I hug him tightly back. And suddenly I feel Prom joining us as as well, his sweet kisses on the side of my face comforting me, and Gladio is laughing out loud and just for fun he is hugging me once more and then we all roar out in laughter at our silliness. Absolutely relieved at having each others backs and that we all are alive and well.

And just at this moment a thundering, deep earthquake is shaking the ground below us and growing stronger by the minute.

We all look at each other in confusion. "What is happening?" Prom is looking at a wall behind me that is suddenly shattering apart in thousands of pieces as the stones meet the shaking ground and crumble at the force, the remains rolling forth and end up hitting our feet. "What the hell?!" He is jumping back in shock.

Huge cracks are appearing everywhere and we immediately look for a safe place somewhere higher on the hill. Ignis is guiding us quickly forward, while the eyes on his pale face are staring straight before him in thought. "We haven't experienced an earthquake of this magnitude for over hundred of years!" Gladio is cursing outloud as a deep crack is ripping the ground below us apart and now we are seriously starting to run away, all the while looking aghast at our surroundings, because the ruin is falling apart, the vegetation around us is moving constantly back and forth and a huge tree is almost hitting us with it's branches on it's way down, as the earth below is shaking madly and I almost trip over the uneven ground. But Prom is holding my hand and pulling me up behind him and I give him a thankful nod for his help.

"Where can we hide?" I ask, trying to catch my breath, because my heart is beating furiously at the realisation of the grave situation we suddenly find ourselves to be in. And as I feared, Ignis is shouting his reply: "There is no place to hide. This earthquake seems to be focused on the entire Duscae region!" Prom is staring at him in shock. "What now? The people on the Wiz Chocobo Ranch and the ones on the gas station! And Cidney! Someone needs to help them!" Gladio is then stepping in: "Calm down, I am sure they will find a solution to this, this is their area of expertise as this has always been an endangered place for earthquakes." But Ignis is shaking his head, not stopping his running and replying: "This earthquake is deliberate, it's force is not normal at all. My best guess would be, somebody woke up the Archean Titan!"

Then Prom, Gladio and I call out simultaneously: "What?!"

He continues: "If we want to stop this, we need to confront Titan!" Gladio is looking at him sideways, as if on each side of Ignis head have grown suddenly two heads. "Surely you jest! We are not prepared for such a confrontation! He is an Archean and not a mere mortal beast!"

Prom is then laughing in disbelief and shouting: "Guys, then I can just pack up and go home. See you later! I don't have any bullets on me, that will be strong enough to even tickle his feet!"

We laugh with him for a moment, and then Gladio is looking back over his shoulder at me: "But Noct has the Armiger! And the summon! Would your power suffice?" I shake my head negatively at him. "I'm almost at my limit. Imagine how all of this today would have ended up without the life energy that my power has acquired up until now." Then Ignis is smirking over his shoulder at me: "What's the problem? Prompto is within your immediate reach." I gape at him stupidly. "Are you serious? Did you just take a look around us? Where in the world do you see here a quiet spot for any erotic activities?!" He is just shrugging his shoulders at me. "Just teasing you." I run up faster to his side to punch him on his shoulder. "Smart-ass!" And I can hear Prom laughing at our behaviour.

"Over there!" Gladio is pointing to a high place where the earthquake is not reaching up yet, and we immediately run over to step on it, seeking the best place out to catch our breaths while we look down below us into the darkness of the night.

"I don't believe it! Titan is destroying everything ... " Prom is gaping and I follow his eyes with my own. I gasp out loud. "Dear God ..." The ground seems to have broken apart on several places, deep dark slashes adorning the terrain far below on the Duscae plain.

Gladio is pointing with his finger and shouting: "There, the Astral Shard! It's moving!" We all look at the gigantic feet stomping heavily onto the ground, as the colorful glowing shard on it's back is moving slowly but firmly along.

Prom's voice is shaking. "Guys, do you see the same as what I see just happening?"

Ignis is nodding. "Yes. Titan is walking ... in our direction."

And Gladio is cursing. "Holy shit!"

Holy shit indeed!

At this very moment, the only thing that we can do, is to stand here. Utterly stunned to the spot. Because nobody has a clue yet of how to proceed.

And if this is not enough for today, our hair is suddenly ruffling up and our clothes flutter madly from the forceful wind blowing from behind, as several Niflheim airships arrive. Just in time for the big party of the millenium. Because I am now sure, that the world has not seen an active Archean for over hundreds or even thousands of years.

Already the Magiteck soldiers jump down from their airships onto the ground, a dozen of Niflheim flags everywhere.

"I think we have a problem."

I roll my eyes. Trust Ignis to point out the obvious. But I reply back at him anyway.

"Yes. We do."

...


	9. Titan - Noctis POV

Hey dear readers,

phew, this has been a long ride so far. I apologize for the late update, but I kept waiting for Gamescom, for some kind of information about the villains names or more locations or more story details that would fit inside of my story. But as you all know, nothing significant happened ._..

So I'll try to write this story as good as I can, straying as far as possible from canon because I don't have a clue on how the final story will be like. (they changed so many things!)

I still hope that you like where my plot is going so far. :)

Thank you all very much for your support and reviews so far, I deeply appreciate it!

Have fun reading,

Kamuel

**...**

**Chapter 9: Titan - Noctis POV**

In front of us are waiting over one hundred or so Magiteck soldiers.

Disbelief is transforming my sweaty face to a pretty uncool pale mess.

I can feel my midlife crisis approaching, much sooner than anticipated. I don't know if I should look forward to it, or not.

If one would squint both eyes carefullly, there might be a few more or some less dozen splendid specimen of androids sandwiched in between. Entirely depending on one's view of the world - either optimistic, or pessimistic. Right now, I choose to be the latter. That's why I count them up to be around two hundred altogether. All soldiers positioned in strict lines, one after another, packed like sardines in a dose, and each one of them probably waiting for further instructions.

Their airships have not departed yet and I take this to be a very bad sign. They still do hover over us, their artificial lights highlighting our position and the glaring brightness hurting my eyes terribly.

Ignis is taking a step forward to protect me, saying: "Just what we need, this fight is being monitored by Niflheim."

Great.

My tooth starts aching at hearing this and I bare my teeth at our enemies in irritation, hissing with growing annoyance: "Why? This doesn't make any sense if they wanted to eliminate me out of existence."

"Their plans seem to have changed. So, what do we do now?" Prompto is giving me a look full of worry.

Gladio is cursing under his breath, saying: "You need to ask? They'll get to see the best show that they have ever seen of course."

"Should we start to hope, seeing that this is some kind of a live broadcast, that they are mistaking us with some popular boyband?" I joke to lighten up the mood.

A wide grin is appearing on Prom's lips while winking at me. "Yeah, our mud drenched outfits are perfect! They might expect us to start singing and dancing, even the blinding lime light is ready for us!"

Prom and I smirk at each other when Ignis is pursing his lips in discomfort, saying: "The only problem I have with this is, we couldn't practice the choreography yet, as nobody let us inside of this brilliant scheme of theirs beforehand.". His rigid shoulders telling us that he doesn't like to be kept in the dark at all.

"Ha! No problem! Let's just jump around like Prompto always does. Don't know about you guys, but his moves look a hella lot like dancing to me." Gladio is ruffling Promptos hair and instantly they start bickering again like five year olds.

Well, what I can take from the impressive sight before me so far is, that the background dancers are now complete and have arrived in a punctual manner for the music video shooting, their national flags are fluttering imperiously in the wind. A highly dramatic scenario for our debut single.

Two hundred dancers may be a tiny bit overkill in my humble opinion, but this just shows how popular we already are.

Oh, yes. I shouldn't forget to mention the VIP of this evening. Behind us, the global super star Archean Titan, overworldly being extraordinaire, is stampeding his way through the wilderness as we speak, his footsteps loud and clearly visible because of the shaking ground beneath us, as he is slowly but surely closing the distance the longer we are just standing here and gape around in foreboding.

Niflheim is simply loving us to death.

I can feel the lid of my right eye twitching in nervous anticipation. And a slight migraine makes it's presence felt.

What happened to our purpose of only hunting Deadeye this evening? This is really getting ridiculous now. We have neither the manpower on our side, nor the magical energy to defeat not only two hundred android soldiers, no, but a God-like earth elemental creature as well!

I can feel my legs starting to give off some nervous convulsions.

My inner desperation for a solution out of this mess is pushing me to become slightly hysterical and I hope our valued friends from Niflheim don't catch these humiliating moments of mine on camera. I want to look cool, at least in the last moments of my young adult life!

Yes, I'm being aware of talking nonsense in my mind right now. This always happens whenever I didn't get enough sleep, or when amazing sex with Prom made my brain melt (please keep this secret to yourself).

Or whenever I'm being backed up into a corner. As right at this moment.

Prom has placed himself on my right side, the gun inside his hand held tightly, beads of sweat are appearing on his forehead, and I steal a glance into his handsome eyes. He is glancing back at me with a wry smile. Would anyone mind if I tackle him to the shaking ground to quickly kiss his breath away? This might be the last time that we have together ...

Maybe Ignis was right and Prom and I should have had some sensual moments before running up on this hill, to fill up some of my depleted magic power. Summoning Ramuh would have at least permanently wiped all the annoying background dancers from the scene.

Said dancers, who from afar are starting to move now towards us in tandem.

Best if I consult our personal oracle for some kind of miracle. Else I definitely fear that we won't make it alive from this fight at all.

"Ignis, any divine afflatus gracing your intelligent brain yet?" I'm gritting my teeth and summon the Avenger into my right hand, making myself ready to fight and to protect my family with all I have.

Ignis is getting his knifes ready as well, standing protectively before me, his stance changing into one for fighting. "Yes. I'm probably grasping at straws here, but your horoscope for today says: don't get yourself killed. Third try will hopefully not be your charm."

I hear Gladio snorting a laugh at us, the Zweihänder appearing into his hands as he is throwing the heavy weapon high up, for the back of the weapon to lie comfortably down on his shoulder, prepared to strike with it any minute now. "Guys, the one who has the most kills at the end of the day gets to shower first!"

Prompto is pouting. "Oh come on, that's mean Gladio! You know I won't get a chance at that."

While Gladio is teasing Prom, I can't stop myself from asking him out of curiousity: "And what's the reward for defeating Titan?"

Ignis is stepping in with clear amusement lacing his voice: "For you? A whole night alone with Prompto."

Then cute Prom is blushing and trying to stop the dead-serious and heavy bet, by pointing his finger at us: "Oi you two! Quit your dirty business right there!"

My lips are widening into a full grin, my eyes are leering playfully over Prom's figure up and down, while saying to Ignis: "Make it three nights. In the row. And we have a deal."

Prom has his jaw dropped to the ground now, not believing what Ignis and I are bargaining about now, of all times. And I really wish I could just kiss his cute looking face senseless ...

Ignis is smiling in a challenging way back at me. "You'll get a whole week if you manage to defeat the highest number of soldiers AND Titan."

"Deal." Now that's what I call a fair reward! I quickly shake hands with Ignis to complete our contract. Prom and I look at each other intensely, watching him as the wind is ruffling his fair hair around and a sudden pang of deep longing for him is squeezing at my heart. My body is blazing with a new resolve to survive this fight at all cost. It's amazing what the promise of uninterupted and lenghty sessions of wonderful sex with ones soul mate can do to a man.

We get an entire week to spend in intimate togetherness, as soon as everything is over! Uninterrupted! Imagine that!

I suddenly swing the Avenger along my side in a threatening manner, asking everyone: "What first? Soldiers in the front or Titan behind us?"

Gladio and Ignis nod to each other and then shout together: "Soldiers."

And Prom is abruptly crying out in shock, taking a huge step back. "Wait a minute guys! You all seriously want to take on the whole army in front of us? It wasn't a joke?!"

Then Gladio is clapping on his back strongly with his free hand, making him stumble forward. "Yep! Just think of it this way: when we split up their numbers into four, there are only about fifty soldiers for each one of us left to take on. Easy, right?"

"E .. e... easy?" Prom is staring at us pale-faced, whining in imitation of a dead sabertusk and I hide my laughter behind my hand when he says: "Yeah, right, as easy as knocking on Titan's nonexistent huge balls to get them ringing! You guys are absolutely deranged I tell you! You have a death wish or what?! I think the earthquake has jumbled up all your neuronal joints into nice looking pieces of brain prezels-"

"Everyone. I have an idea." Ignis says suddenly, instantly getting our attention with his serious sounding voice. We all step around him to listen and then he is shaking a sudden genius plan out of his sleeve for us: "Prompto, you need to stay for the entire battle outside of the battlefield, careful not to be hit by any of their bullets. If needed heal yourself with potions or call me for my healing ability. Your main focus will be to aim at any soldier within the range of Gladio's position. Shoot your time stopping bullets non-stop one after another at them. This should at least give us a good amount of time to weaken their hard shells and to open the possibility of defeating their mechanical bodies with only two or three remaining strikes." Prom's eyes are growing wide in understanding and we all look relieved at each other, because all of a sudden we can see us winning this fight. And if everything goes well even come off pretty much unscathed.

"Gladio. You are responsible for the weakening of every unmoving android that Prompto is freezing up with his bullets. Noct, you are to rush as quickly as you can at any soldier that Gladio has thoroughly weakened and do the finishing attacks. But first, I suggest for you to unleash your best skill upon their leaders with the Armiger, at least for as long as your remaining magic energy can last, to decimate the strongest ones out of their ranks right from the start."

"Understood. Leave it to me." I say in reply, my eyes already taking in the amount of soldiers, starting to plan ahead and prepare myself for the upcoming battle.

"And my position will be to follow Gladio and Noct to cast Cure whenever it's necessary, this will be my number one priority. Only when there are open opportunities I'll help to keep off their bullets reaching to either one of you. With this, I think we may have a very good chance to survive this."

I take one last look at my best friends, nodding at each other. "Thanks Ignis. Alright, let's do this!"

With huge steps we run forward to the first row of soldiers, Prompto's bullets already hitting the first ones and Gladio starts slashing at them immediately after they have been stunned. I activate the Armiger and aim with a battle cry right at the soldiers in the middle, my swift and strong arial strikes and slashes quickly disposing of their leaders first.

The earth quake grows even more in strength, shaking the ground under me with such a terrible force, that I start to fear for my friends that have no choice but stay on the ground in this battle. But as far as I can see, the android soldiers do not fare any better, their magical armory build around their artificial bodies is not prepared for the shaking ground either, so they stumble a lot and many of them fall down, some rolling down on the other side of the hill - making it easier for us to take them out.

As soon as I turn my attention towards the enemies who were weakened by Gladio, I slash away at them with the highest speed my body can achive, their metalized limbs flying around and disappearing in the air one after another.

But just when I feel the Armiger quickly draining my last energy reserves, a foreign female warrior is landing before my feet out of nowhere and is taking a wide swing with her huge sword, surprising the hell out of me and hitting at my chest with full force, literally blowing me a few long feet away from the battle field.

"Noct!"

"Noct!"

As my injured body rolls downwards the hill, my fingers try to grab and hold onto something to make my fall stop. Thankfully some bushes and small trees are holding me off, blocking my body from rolling any further down and I gasp simultaneously in shock and in relief.

This was close.

Feeling quite queasy and dizzy I take a look around me in anticipation of a second attack. With the drumming sounds of my quick heart beats in my ears I can hear my friends calling after me. I know that they can't help me right now because of their own immediate dangerous situation.

I squeeze my eyes in pain, trying to get some distance between the female warrior and me as soon as she's landing before my feet with a heavy thud once again - the earth quake beneath us not bothering her in the slightest. Her armor must be special to withstand the trembling shocks, its design remembering me of a dragon.

This time I manage to avoid the impact of another deathly strike of her huge sword aimed at my chest and I teleport as far away from her as possible to catch my breath, clutching at my chest that has started to hurt like hell and it's intensifying the dizziness in my head.

What in the world has she done to me? This is not a normal injury.

I can feel her quickly approaching.

Shit. She's dangerous!

Groaning from pain I try to stand upright, summoning my strongest Phantom Sword that I have at my disposal to instantly block off another strong blow at me in time - damn, her skills speak of an immensely high battle experience. Experience that I still need to acquire for myself.

The force behind her attacks are pushing me further and further back into the wilderness, suddenly glad that my powers grand me the ability to see shapes beyond the human spectrum of light. Without this ability she would have defeated me long ago already. When she is pushing me even further back I start to pray that the ground below me is still intact - I'm not too keen to suddenly fall several miles deep down within the earth!

Her attacks are growing more and more aggressive and I curse inwardly, in my current condition I'm not able to fight back as quickly and efficiently as I normally would do, nor can I teleport myself farther away. While blocking off her hurried attacks I look around me for a quick escape. My eyes widen in trepidation when my attention goes to Titan's footsteps that suddenly hall louder than before around us, feeling his enormous presence getting much closer behind me. The heavy earthquake giving the short distance between us away, the shaking ground already making it hard for me to stand on my own feet.

And then I finally understand this womans intention!

Shit! I've been so engrossed in defending myself that I didn't realize that she is purposefully pushing me towards the Archean.

But why?

With her skills and my weak condition she could catch me easily all on her own ... only to let Titan kill me now?!

I thought with Niflheim monitoring us they would want to catch me alive?

What in all seven Heavens is their real agenda?

Once again I teleport my body a few feet away - sadly that's as far as I can get with my remaining energy - just in time when my tired muscles can't keep up with the heavy blows of her immensely huge weapon anymore. I breathe in greedily for fresh air, my chest hurting like hell and my whole body trembling with exhaustion.

What to do now?

I can see from here how my friends are desperately shouting my name, searching for me, their flash lights glowing in the darkness at some distance farther away. They run in my direction to catch up to me, a horde of leftover androids and airships following diligently their tails. I wish I could be by their side to protect everyone ...

The dragon woman seems to notice my distraction and is all of a sudden holding her sword upright in the air, slashing it down into the ground with force and the strength of her attack is pushing me even more backwards. The blown up air and dirt around us is blocking my vision and the pressure behind her skill forces me to teleport once more to move away from it, else it would crush my bones from all sides without mercy.

I don't even get the time to breathe properly, a sudden angry roar is making me jump in my skin, pain all forgotten when I become aware of Titan. The astral being is standing right behind me, his overwordly presence making me shake in fright. It usually would take a lot to make me afraid of something, but the Archeans power alone is downright awe inspiring! I feel my knees giving away from all the strain and I fall down on the ground, panting for breath as the dirt in the air is making its way into my nose and mouth - the dizziness now stronger than before.

The top of the dragon lady's sword is tickling the tip of my nose, surprising me, the sharp blade not even an inch away from slicing me apart and then I hear her shouting in a commanding voice: "Yield, Prince of Lucis. Come with me and your Kingdom shall be spared from destruction."

"Spared?" I snarl in a sarcastic way at her. "Don't make me laugh! What kind of a fool do you take me to be? King Aldercapt is famous for going back on his word as soon as he gets what he desires." As if I would ever let myself get caught by those lunatics!

This time I'm prepared for her next move, my perfectly timed dodge allowing me to teleport directly behind her, catching her offguard and pressing my Blood Sword against her throat, using this chance to drain some of her health to heal myself from the dizziness. I hiss at her: "Stop the Archean and the soldiers immediately and I will spare you from encountering death."

But instead of surrendering, she starts laughing softly at me. "You're brave, I like you. But I fear it's too late for us to stop this one." Then she looks up and my gaze is following her, both of our bodies taut with tension when Titan is about to crush us under his gigantic feet.

"What is he doing?! Aren't you a comrade of his?" I ask her, my mind working with high speed on which spot to teleport without ending up crushed. Damn it! If only my energy wouldn't be almost depleted!

She is leaning backwards on my body, letting her sword fall down onto the ground with a thud. As if she is suddenly realizing something important, she says in a hollow sounding voice: "Niflheim doesn't have a need for comrades."

Seriously, I don't know what exactly I'm thinking, or if I'm thinking at all, but instead of teleporting myself away, in a flash I push the female warrior to the far side to save her life, calling with all my might on the last bits of my energy to summon the Phantom Swords at my side and with the strongest sword out of them I turn my body around with as much strength as I can to parry the Archeans powerful thrust of feet with everything that I have. Crying out from pain, as the pain in my arms grows beyond any level that I ever had to endure up until now, I refuse to give in to my tired body needs and force myself over my limits to push Titan back at all costs.

"Noct!"

Just then I hear Prom's voice calling me from afar, giving me even more strength and reminding me again to stay alive! I don't want to lose my soul mate, I don't want to die and leave him behind! Not now when we've finally found each other again!

I pray to my father with all my might to survive this! I pray to the Phantom Swords that I need all their strength to surpass this Archeans power, needing their help! I need to survive this!

Titan's power is slowly crushing me into the ground, my trembling knees giving away any minute now and I'm baring my teeth in utter frustration at my weak self! I cry out an angry shout! Damn it!

This can't be the end!

There is still so much I need to do!

Not only my friends and family do need me! The people of this world depend on us to expose the truth and for us to cancel those damnable ancient contracts that keep corrupting the God of Life.

I can't give up now!

And as if they heard my prayer, all Phantom Swords disappear from my side to latch themselves on Titan, his huge feet halting in the air as they start drawing and leeching power out of his otherworldly essence and I feel my strength returning with vigor.

What ... what happened?! What is this?

I watch in quiet disbelief as all eight magical swords return to me, only to have them melt back into one huge unique and powerful sword into my hands.

Heaven, what a surprise! The rush of power in my veins feels absolutely incredible! It's the strangest feeling, while the vitality is traveling through every joint of my tired limbs. A feeling of being drunk but entirely aware and awake at the same time.

Thanking the Phantom Swords profusely for their much needed help, with another turn of my body around I hold tightly onto my newly formed magical sword and then strike the blade at Titans feet once more and this time with all the vital force inside of me. While the sword isn't able to slash through the material of his feet, the impact is still strong enough to overcome his thrusting leg and I push the entire Astral Shard backwards, making the gigantic earth elemental stumble and fall down on his mighty behind!

With heavy breaths I watch the colossal being stumbling awkwardly on the ground, everything around me heavily shaking with the force of his fall and with a resolved cry I jump high up, teleporting myself on Titans upper body to thrust the Phantom Sword straight into his chest, aiming for his heart.

As soon as the sword is cutting through and is touching the insides of his beating heart, I can hear Titans voice reverberating inside my mind.

"Wait, mortal being." he says with a rasp sounding voice.

The force of his heavy breaths move the hair away from my face as my head turns with speed to look at him.

My overpowered body is shaking with the need for any kind of release, be it a release of a won battle or a release in form of a sexual intimate embrace. But my shock at hearing the Archean talk to me is making me forget to get embarrassed at finding myself sexually aroused and stimulated thanks to my Phantom Swords and their mighty influence over me.

"Mortal being, of the ancient House of Lucis, I do remember you now."

I glance up to take in Titans whole face, turning my body sideways to have a better look into his uninjured eye that is staring right at me with a sudden clarity.

To make sure that I have the upper hand at all times I'm careful not to pull out my sword from his chest prematurely. Not until he is either dead or ... or what exactly?

"You remember me?" I ask somewhat stupidly, not really knowing what's going on and feeling as if I've been once in a similar situation.

"Yes. You kept your promise to me, mortal being."

I blink inwardly in puzzlement.

But instead of explaining everything, Titan is showing me mentally his memories of our last meeting.

Various images of a vicious battle appear, as my ancestors and me fought against the Archeans at that time. And then I see how my past self managed to defeat Titan and make a new contract out of his free will to join the Knights of Etro.

Feeling utterly baffled at the revelation, I stare speechlessly at the powerful being under me. "What happened to you after my past self died?"

The Archean is sighing. "The Wise ones, they have forced me to obey their commands. They did ... horrible deeds to take control over my spirit. Your past self managed to purge my initial instinct to destroy. I've been on the path that you mortals call as 'self-serving' or 'service to self'. After I met you, I chose out of my own free will to become a being who is serving others like yourself, because your unusual thirst for life and creativity has set my heart free from suffering. My heart wanted to experience the same joy of life as you did, I wanted to be a part of your own growth. For me to be able to do that, I became the earth element to fuel the power residing inside of you."

Completely dumb-struck I sit myself down on the Archeans chest to think over what he just revealed to me.

"Since then I've always been a part of you. Until the day when The Wise ones have forcefully kept me apart from merging with the power of your past selves. But in the end, you kept your promise and came for me. I'm now ready to merge with you once more, mortal being."

"Noctis." I say.

"Noctis.", the Archean repeats as if testing the syllables on his heavy tongue.

And as if something has just been tickling my memories out of an ancient past, I start to remember how I once thrust my sword into the Archeans heart to absorb his essence inside of me.

Wait, that means that my initial reaction to do it wasn't because I wanted to kill him - that attempt would have been foolish in the first place, because as an astral being he is immortal. But then, touching the center of his heart would resonate with my own intentions, with my own will - as the one who defeated him in battle once and won over his ultimate loyality.

I turn to face him again, smiling and feeling like I found a lost friend once again.

Then I say to him full of confidence, not knowing where this is suddenly coming from: "Titan, let's find all ancient contracts and destroy them together."

The Archean is sending me a wide mental smirk. "I see, you haven't changed, Noctis."

I smirk back at him in answer.

Then I stand up to complete what I was set to do before he interrupted me. When I see the Archean nodding his consent, I push the blade of the Phantom Sword fully inside his beating heart and in an instant the whole mass of his astral body is being absorbed inside the magical sword between my hands. The grip becomes so hot that it starts hurting to hold the burning sword in place until it does absorb every last spark of the astral shard straight into my body cells.

Oh hell ... I'm so deeply aroused and out of my mind from everything, all the power too intense, that I cry out in agony when I feel the alien force inside of me taking a hold over my body to ground me.

I'm grateful. Without him taking control I would probably lose my mind, not knowing how to handle everything.

This time I can only watch as my body jumps down from the dull astral shard onto the ground. I see myself running forward to reach my friends in time, summoning forth Titan, for him to help us get rid of all Niflheim soldiers and their respective airships that are still hovering high up into the night sky.

At once I feel the earth elemental being's enormous body drumming under my feet as I steadily run forward, his huge hands and arms breaking out first from below and ripping two long gashes through the ground. They reach out for my friends to lift all of us up to safety upon his shoulders as soon as his upper body is fully visible over the ground. Hiis legs start melting to become one with the soil around him and the earth under all Niflheim soldiers starts tearing apart until each and everyone is falling and being ensnared right into the dark open gashes - and with a heavy trembling sound the gashes close, crushing the androids as if they were mere flies under the pressure, their artificial bodies never going to see the daylight ever again.

Just then Titan is jumping from the ground high up into the sky and with a thunderous clap of his huge hands the whole ground under him starts shaking once more, this time tearing up into several open, red glowing gashes - their form remind me of ancient runes - and then huge lava fountains are gushing out from deep inside the earth. The liquified magma forcefully shooting up and coating all Niflheim airships, dragging and melting them back to the place where the lava came from, until the runes dance a few times in circles as the ground rearranges itself back to normal - not even a stone looking out of place.

With one last look around him, the Archean is helping us down to the safe ground and with a confident smirk he is disappearing, merging back inside of me and making me pleasantly shiver.

So this is what it feels like to have an astral companion fully merged inside of you.

Only then do I feel the alien power letting go of his tight grip on me, allowing me to gain full control over my body once again and I crumble down in front of my friends - completely worn out.

Prom is already rushing to me. "Noct! Oh my God, are you alright?" His trembling arms are embracing me tenderly while he is giving Ignis some room for him to check up on me of any deep or lasting injuries.

"Holy shit!" I hear Gladio yell in shock. "Noct, what was that? Titan is now on our side?! Amazing!"

"Incredible ... " - is the only thing Ignis can utter after he finished his careful inspection. All of us look at each other with awe written all over our faces.

We now have Titan as an ally.

How crazy is that?

Not even an hour ago would we have believed that something like this would have been possible to achieve.

Prom then is fully pouncing on me, knocking my breath out when he is pushing me on my back and starting to kiss me hotly, his frantic movements full of desperation and elation. In between the passionate ignited kisses he mutters: "For a moment I thought we've lost you ... Noct, I was so afraid and worried and ... heaven, to make it short: I love you so much!" I don't even get to reply, his lips now back and fully pressed on mine, making me pleasantly shiver - the previous arousal is still fresh in my mind and groin and tickling at my insides. And in a flash I do remember my reward, for a whole week Prom and I get to spend our nights alone, uninterrupted in blessed togetherness. Having Prom's body in my arms is making me groan out into his mouth in delight, my inner force and I welcoming his tongue eagerly, despite the utter tiredness and I pull his body as tightly as I can to me, to feel his warmth everywhere on my over-fatigued limbs that tangle with his somewhat clumsily to find a comfortable position.

I don't give a damn about the world around us at the moment - as utterly exhausted as I feel right now. All I want at this moment is some peace and quiet, some precious time alone with Prom full of slow burning pleasures and a hot bath and a full night having a restful sleep while holding my soul mate safely inside my arms ...

"Noct! Prompto! Watch out!"

But of course, my life seems to be much more complicated than my own naive wishful thinking to be left alone with my beloved.

Just when Prom is lifting his head to properly look at what's wrong, huge explosions go off in our immediate proximity. A quick glance further back is telling us that Ignis and Gladio went far ahead already to leave both of us alone for some private time.

"Noct, look!" Prom is pointing his finger into the sky.

When we look upwards, to the source of those explosives, we curse simultaneously with incredulity colouring our voices: "Oh shit!"

Niflheim is back! And this time they aren't joking around anymore. Hundreds of airships are arriving and from them several magic infused granates are being thrown off, detonating whenever they hit the ground into green flames. Their intent now clear: to kill me.

Boy, don't I feel special today!

"This way!" Prom is jumping up and pulling me after him, my hand held tightly into his own, but my feet feel too sluggish to keep up with his hurried running steps.

"Hurry up!"

Hurry up, he says. Easier said than done!

First fighting the sabertusk colony, then fighting the mighty Deadeye, the horde of Magiteck soldiers, then the nice dragon lady inbetween and the Archean Titan - AND now THIS?!

Come on!

God damn it all to hell! I'm tired! I'm beyond exhausted! When do I get some peace to finally rest?!

Did we jump suddenly overnight into some kind of a stupid horror survival game or what?!

Prom keeps pulling me after him, careful so that we don't stumble over the uneven terrain under our feet, but his shaking hand against mine is revealing to me how terrified he truly is.

Knowing how serious our situation is now, especially both of us being separated from Ignis and Gladio, we run as quickly as our feet can take us, both aware that the airships are much faster and could catch up with us any time now.

And as I expected, then it happens.

A granate is falling down right above us and we are too slow to evade its fall.

With a quick move, that I never thought Prom to be capable of to pull, he is aiming his gun upwards and shooting a time stopping bullet straight at the granate before it gets to detonate.

Time also seems to stop for us, or this is just my tunel vision created by my fearful state of mind, because all of a sudden he is shoving me far away and I fall down backwards a few feet away. I didn't want to let go of his hand, the staggering fear now gripping at my furiously beating heart.

Right then I can only watch him turning his head to face me and shout: "I'll protect you! Run to safety! Run!"

His words are calling forth such a deep terror clawing at my stomach, feeling myself becoming sick when I remember the exact same scene happening inside of my past dreams!

This always has been the moment, when I woke up drenched in sweat and crying afterwards for the one I love the deepest.

I now know what is going to happen.

Today I know what these dreams were trying to tell me.

They were glimpses of my future - and I failed to change their outcome.

Then everything happens all at once.

The time stopping bubble is disappearing, the granate now surrendering to gravitation and continuing to take its course towards its set target.

I cry out Prom's name in horror, my whole being too terrified, not prepared at all to watch him die before my eyes. Being too weak, any attempts to teleport myself to his side and to push him away are failing.

No! Please! My most horrible nightmare is about to come true!

Prom is smiling reassuringly at me, his handsome eyes not leaving my face as they eagerly watch me for the last time and then he is forming with his lips silently 'I love you' as a tear starts falling down on his cheeks ...

NO! This isn't the end!

"Prom!"

I make a final attempt to try to stand up, summoning any spark of magic left inside of me to spell Aqua over the fire, just when the detonation is taking place, but the heat of its impact is injuring my face severely and I roll my body backwards away from the blazing flames.

"NO! Prom!"

Again I try to throw a water spell in the flames direction, but nothing happens.

Oh God ... please no ...

"Prom!"

This cannot be happening!

Angry and frightful tears are blurring my vision as I crawl around the blazing fire, being careful not to inhale any smoke.

"Answer me! PROM!"

Please. Please don't take him away from me! Not now! Not ever!

The salty tears are hurting the scorched skin on my cheeks, making the raw flesh under them sting and burn and I welcome the pain as I watch helplessly the flickering flames dancing over the ground as if taunting me.

After the green coloured flames die down, at least so far that I can see the burned ground underneath them, I cry out in anguish at the sudden loss of another important person in my life.

Prom has completely disappeared.

Niflheims deathly weapon has managed to erase even his bones and ashes from this world.

And it should have been me, instead of him.

I fall down on my knees and punch the ground in growing rage.

First my father.

Now Prom.

How dare they-

Just then a heavy net of steel ropes is thrown over me and it's startling me out of my blinding frenzy to seek revenge. The magical charged ropes are molding around me and instantly numbing my body into submission. I feel myself getting disoriented and sleepy.

Several human soldiers are landing on the ground, their heavy boots making strange noises as they walk over the ropes and then grab at my shoulders to heave me forcefully up.

The last thing that I can hear, before I shake the enemies off in a futile attempt to teleport my body outside of the net, are the distant voices of Ignis and Gladio calling our names full of fear ...

...

To be continued.


	10. Lost - Part One - Noctis POV

Hey :),

finally I can upload the next chapter on FF too (couldn't login yesterday).

New canon characters now introduced:

Cor: obviously ;)

Ravus: is the villain with the hood (from the reveal trailer 2013) (UPDATE: now officially revealed as Luna's brother Ravus Nox Fleuret!)

Else, I have not much to say about this chapter ;), I want everyone to draw their own conclusions ...

I hope you like where the story is going so far, I have quite the surprises hidden in my sleeve, fufufu.

**ben4kevin**: yeah, I'm happy with the showing of PAX though. I loved to watch the driving part and the development tidbits. Hopefully TGS is interesting, they will show more of Luna and Regis *_* can't wait!

**LisAlice**: hey dear, how are you? Glad to read your review and that you liked the previous chapter! The female warrior is the 'dragon lady' from one of the older trailers. With long blonde hair and having a dark armor with a huge sword, fighting Noct on the roof of some skyscrapers at nighttime. ^_^ thank you again! Enjoy this chapter.

**leni90:** hey :), thank you so much for your review! Happy to hear you like how I write Noct and Prom! Your favorite author? Really O_O? Thanks! You make me blush, girl! Aaaaand here is the update, and the next part is almost done as well. This time you won't have to wait that long for further updates :).

Have fun reading everyone!

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Lost Part One - Noctis POV**

**...**

Prompto...

_"I'll protect you! Run to safety! Run!"_

Prom!

_"I love you."_

PROM!

With a sudden twitch of my legs, awareness creeps slowly inside my sleepy and numb body again.

I try to reach out my senses as best as I can to understand my situation.

There are instances, when I can feel unforgiving hands holding me down, cold fingers prodding everywhere on my body, before unconsciousness takes over me all over again.

Where am I?

Little by little, despite my drugged state of mind, I try to commit as much sensory impressions to my memory as possible, in an attempt to keep up with the blurry events happening around me.

So far, I found out that these people have a clear schedule, day after day, following the same routines and procedures. I might have lost my sense of time, but my intuition is telling me that almost a week has already past since... that painful incident.

Since the day I've been captured, I'm literally chained somewhere on something that is having a soft surface and I find myself unable to move any of my limbs ever since. Even my eyelids seem to be too heavy, I can't get them to open up. Most of the time I'm more asleep than actually awake and aware.

Thankfully today is such a day, where my brain can forge at least some full words into a whole sentence.

I take a moment to listen what's happening around me.

Hn... only the sounds of typing on a keyboard are heard. Somebody sitting near to me must sit on a computer, writing something ...

For many times since I've been here I asked myself the following question:

Why do they still keep me alive?

Prom... he should have been alive as well. He shouldn't have died in such a gruesome way .. shouldn't have been burned alive before my eyes ...

Didn't Niflheim send all of their military prowess and deathly arsenal after me, for the sole purpose of killing me off?

I shouldn't have survived... not when Prom isn't by my side anymore.

I notice now that the deep pain of loss is dragging me down into depression again. So I start to divert my thoughts, wondering, as I did many times before, what Niflheim possibly could want from me. What is their true purpose? I wonder, because as a matter of fact, I know that I'm not being tortured nor forced to do things that out of my own free will I would never agree with in the first place.

What's up with all the injections, the prodding and the creepy touching? It's not exactly pleasant to feel all of this happening, but at least I'm not in pain. Each day I get some kind of drug injected that instantly makes me lose my consciousness. And afterwards, I don't remember any of the things they did during the time when my mind was fast asleep. Only a slight headache is lingering for a short while, but it's nothing major.

But instead, whenever I'm somewhat awake, even while I'm scarcely aware of my surroundings, the pain of loss becomes once again unbearable... it's pushing inside, pulling, squeezing, hammering, hurting.

As it does now.

Prom...

A single memory keeps repeating itself in the forefront of my mind. It's Prom's brave smiling face, his soft lips forming his final words 'I love you' at me.

This is my last precious memory I have of him - the very last moment before he left this world.

I'm not sure how many days or even weeks have past, but what I know is that I still haven't gotten the chance to mourn for the loss of my soul mate yet.

And it hurts so damn much.

I need the kind of privacy where I can let lose myself within this pain and just cry my damn eyeballs out, a place where I can reminiscence about him until I can finally let go... to get to that state of mind where it doesn't hurt that damn much anymore.

The logical part inside of me knows, that one day, Prom and I will meet again.

My experience, of meeting my deceased father in the spiritual realm, has opened up my eyes to the profound truth of the spirit inside of us human beings being in fact immortal.

But the injured, mortal human part of my heart is missing Prom sorely. No words can properly express the level of longing I feel for him, especially now that I finally know of his real identity. Now, when I'm aware of our primordial existence and the deep love we feel for each other.

The need and yearning for his presence as my soul mate is on a whole different level, much more painful and intense. Much stronger than I would have felt if we were unaware of each others deep-seated bond.

I now know, that the alien power I've been born with is in some way connected to Prom, because, since the day Prom has left us I can feel its (his?) own pain at losing his bonded mate. Especially because of this, I'm sure, there are far more truths to be unveiled - the truths of what truly happened between my soul mate, the alien force inside of me and myself on the days we made love to each other.

Never would I've thought, that we would have only such a short time to spend together in this life. And what I mean is, together as lovers, with the awareness and knowledge of being each others soul mates.

That we grew up together so close to each other, meeting for the first time as innocent seven year olds. Going to school and visiting the same class, having him sitting beside me each and every day, growing up into puberty and doing all kinds of fun and stupid things. Growing further up and getting to learn about each others embarrassing tastes and quirks and then fighting side by side for so many years - all of this happening without having any clue of our true selves. These memories and thoughts are boggling my mind to this very moment and I wish right now that I could just bash my head against a wall because we didn't wake up much sooner to our destiny.

We didn't have enough time to enjoy each other to the fullest... we've been friends for over fourteen years, lovers only for two days, and soul mates for only one.

So much precious time is now lost. A time and place, where I can't return back to, no matter how powerful I might become one day.

All this time at our disposal as friends, and so much has been wasted for trivial things every day... it's not that I regret the platonic friendship, he was my best friend after all. But the time spent together could have been spent so much more meaningful.

I did intend back then, the moments after Titan became our ally, to properly go out with him. You know, experiencing small but fun and tender things like eating ice cream intimately together, watching movies while lazily stretching out on the couch and making-out, sneaking at night away to each others rooms, or having him lying in my arms on the top of the roof as we caress each other and watch the stars outside, visiting various foreign places in the world and just enjoying life together side by side for a little bit...

I actually did plan to track down his ancestry, to find out what kind of terrible war forced his entire family out of his country. Our history books still don't tell us much, and my father forbade me when I was younger to look deeper into it. The mysterious circumstances around Prom's past speak of something very serious, something truly sinister going on. I saw how much his soul longed for the truth behind his fugitive status and how much he wanted to mentally make an end to his troubled past.

Prom...

It just doesn't feel right that you are already gone from this world. There are still so many things for us to take care of, to do, to find out ...

I can't do all of this without you.

Gods, I need you now more than ever to be here...

Some silent tears make their way out of the corner of my eyes, the drops trailing downwards over my temples and tickling my ears as they get absorbed by the strands of my hair. I want to wipe them away, but I still can't move.

Damn it all, I miss Prom that much...

Why has destiny teared us apart as soon as we found each other in this life?

How in this God forsaken world does this make any sense?

How can I just live on, waiting for an entire lonely life to pass me by, until I get to embrace him again?

There is no guarantee that in our next lives we will remember who we truly are to each other... and this thought frightens me. I don't want to forget all the knowledge I've acquired until now ever again!

That's why, the first thing that I've tried when they brought me here to this place, has been to reach the Astral realms. I desperately need to look for Prom there. Surely he must have gone to the realms of Etro, where the Goddes of Death dwells and guides all spirits and lost souls.

Maybe Prom is standing right at my fathers side - everyone there waiting for me to come back for a visit.

But it's so damn frustrating, I wasn't able to reach the spiritual realms thus far. All attempts were in vain.

I recall my father telling me, that a human being needs a lot of life energy, quite a lot of magical power, to become aware in its own Astral body while asleep.

This can only mean, that Niflheim is purposefully keeping my body on low magical energy levels at all times, to not summon Titan to escape.

I admit they are in the right to fear me.

As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to find those responsible for my father's and Prom's demise.

And then, there will be heaven and hell to pay.

Ignis and Gladio...

I really hope they are doing well, hopefully they could escape Niflheim's wrath in time...

Please, at least you two have to be alive.

It would destroy me to have my entire family taken away from me...

**...**

_"How is it going? Any changes? We are running out of time."_

Strange.

What's going on?

Today I'm more aware of my surroundings than usual.

Best to keep the image of me being still drugged, so that I can follow the conversation happening between my captors.

_"Ravus, you didn't have to come all the way down to the laboratory. I would have come to you to deliver this weeks results."_

Ravus? As in, Iedolas Aldercapt's only child? What in the world is he doing here? Him participating in all of this mess probably means more trouble than I have initially expected...

So, now I know I'm held captive in a laboratory. What are they doing to me?

For how long have I been here? Two weeks? Three?

And just who is the second person in this room? His voice sounds very familiar ...

_"Positive results, I hope. Has the retrieval of his past life memories finally become fruitful?"_

Retrieval of my past life memories?

What in the world?!

This is what they've been doing until now?

_"It has, Ravus. But of course, with the current insufficient level of technology, the remote viewers weren't able to reach beyond the time and place that you have personally requested. To be able to expand their psychic powers that far into the past, it's imperative for us to have the key to activate the other Crystal."_

_"I see. So this is getting us nowhere. I'll take a look into the last batch of memories you have collected so far, just in case there is a clue hidden I have overseen. Send the data as usual up to my own personal quarters."_

_"All right."_

So Ravus searches for a key... a key for another Crystal.

Wait a minute.

They have a second Crystal in their possession?!

I draw in a sharp hiss of breath.

Not possible... or is it? As far as I know, the Crystal of Lucis should be the only one left in this world!

Has everything thus far been a lie?

After all the things my father told me, well, this shouldn't really surprise me anymore - but it does.

All of a sudden I can hear soft footsteps coming closer in my direction.

_"As you know, I've sent in secret my best men out there to look for the key. Everyone came back empty handed. Nobody knows where the hiding place could be. We might even look within the wrong period of time." _

_"You think, the key's original place is hidden in the past? How? I'm not an expert about the true functions of time, but shouldn't the object be found here in the present, linear time and all?"_

My body grows taut with tension as Ravus' voice draws nearer. I want to know more of the subjects they are talking about, hopefully they won't find out that I'm awake yet.

_"Interesting, isn't it? We know that time is relative, so linear time is a result purely out of our own fixed perception about the physical limitations inside and all around us. You know, the hints that were dropped from inside the ancient scriptures, the ones you stole from my fathers library last month, are only vague of the key's true location. I drew my own conclusions after I read every single page with utmost care. But what I found out, I tell you, is incredible."_

The other person snorts amused, saying:_ "You have always been excited to discover ancient secrets. Don't make me wait, just spit it out already."_

Ravus huffs out, sounding aggravated for being laughed at._ "You have no sense for mystery and magic, I swear. So, where was I? Ah, yes, ironically, the key seems to be hidden someplace far back within our past history, and it's only to be found __there__. And now it gets interesting. Inside those scriptures, they speak of ancient Deities who once visited Earth. Powerful Gods, who themselves have locked the hiding place of the key eternally into their own timezone. Imagine that! They must have had the ruling power over time and space. This happened shortly after the cataclysm forced these Deities to leave our mortal realm, and now it gets even more interesting! Everything happened about twelve thousand years ago. Does that ring something to you?"_

_"I see, the cataclysm you mentioned must be the famous legend we learn as children about the downfall of Accoris. The advanced civilization who were the last to be in touch with the true Gods, the creators of mankind. Accordo was named after their place as far as I know."_

_"Indeed..."_

Ravus stops at my right side, touching my cheek with the top of his fingers as he adds further, _"Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, as the direct descendant of the noble House of Lucis is the only soul I know of living today who might have heard or seen the key's location."_

_"What makes you so sure?"_

I give my best not to react to his sudden, soft caress over my skin, still listening closely.

_"Some parts of his past memories. He was born Accorian. His spirit has once lived at the time when the cataclysm happened. Further more, I recently learned, that the Crystal of Lucis and the inactive Crystal that is currently in my fathers dirty hands, were once bound for infinity by destiny. They are rumored to be exclusively chosen and crafted by the divine. Those artifacts have always been the Gods most precious and favorite possessions." _

Ravus' surprising remarks about the legend of Accoris and the Crystals are clearing my sleepy brain all of a sudden.

My heart starts to beat frantically. Is this anticipation that I can feel right now? Does the alien force inside of me recognize something familiar from Ravus' words?

So there truly _is_ much more history behind our Crystal and our past than I've been aware of...

I suddenly want to know everything!

_"Then later, it made me question how Lucis could have come into the Crystals possession. Why have the Gods handed out one of their most important relics to these mere mortals? What made the Lucis bloodline so special?"_

I feel the tip of his finger poking slightly on my chin.

_"And the answer to that is simple. The ancestors of Lucis living at that time have been the rulers of Accoris. The ancient Gods have mingled only among the most powerful, sophisticated, most intellectual and spiritual capable human beings on Earth."_

Ravus unexpectedly strokes his finger tip along my bottom lip.

What the heck is he doing? Touching me that intimately...

_"Our Prince here, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, he was once the ruler, the King of Accoris."_

_"You jest."_

_"It's the truth. I saw some glimpses of it in one of his past life memories."_

_"Ravus, do you... do you truly understand how big this is? The task I've been ordered to fulfill is already too big for you. When your father gets wind about what you've done-"_

_"He won't. By Eos, he __won't__ find out anything as long as I'm alive. He won't."_

_"Ravus..."_

_"You know why I do this. Don't you dare start telling me to back out now. It's too late."_

_"I won't. You have my word."_

_"Good. Anyway, the King of Accoris must have been confided into the secret location of the key by the Deities living at that time. I'm glad that my greedy father didn't get his dirty hands on the Prince. Surely you can imagine what would have happened if I hadn't sent my men in time to rescue him."_

What?! Ravus did save my life?

Good Heavens, all the information so far is absolutely mind-blowing! I still can't believe the ancient secrets Ravus has just unveiled! My mind is spinning, I need a moment to process this...

_"So far so good. As soon as the Prince wakes up, help him clean himself up, prepare for him some fitting clothes and bring him up to my personal rooms. He and I need to talk."_

When I hear him turn around to leave, I make my decision to give up the pretense of being asleep. My eyelids open up to look at Ravus, saying in a raspy voice, "I'm already awake."

Ravus and the other person in the room are first looking surprised at each other and then at me.

My eyes widen even more when I finally recognize the man now standing at Ravus' side. "Cor..." I say blankly. "You are alive."

"Noctis." The man that I know since childhood acknowledges me with a nod of his head.

I can only blink in confusion at those two men before me.

Ravus and Cor... they were retrieving my past life memories without my consent.

Are they my enemies... or not?

Should I leash out my anger... or wait for their explanation first?

Before I proceed to say what's on my mind, I take a good look at Ravus.

The years have really been good to him. How old is he now? Twenty six?

It's been years since I've last seen Ravus. Despite being five years older than I, he has been such a silent and awkward brat back then. Never saying a word, never greeting or playing with me when my father took me with him to Altissia for important meetings. It was a tradition at that time to bring ones child to every event, not only for the child's protection, but for all future heirs to get to know each other early in life.

When we were young, Ravus always gave me the creeps. I was ten and he was fifteen. His much too intelligent bright eyes were boring hauntingly into mine, following me everywhere I was going but never speaking to me. With every further meeting as the years had gone by, the older I got, those gleaming bright eyes of his made me squirm uncomfortably in my seat every single time. I think he had some kind of strange fascination with me since early childhood.

In my naive and sheltered upbringing of course I didn't understand what those stares have meant. The last time I saw Ravus was three years ago. His last, insistent and intent gaze into my eyes, still vivid in my mind even to this day.

So today, especially after I've been together with Prom and gathered a little bit of serious sexual experience, I clearly do understand now the meaning of his peculiar behavior around me. I can't help but shiver at the realization, that for the entire time I have been in his presence, he might have really desired me...

I think he isn't accustomed to me not averting my eyes anymore as I've always done before. Now I keep continuing to stare firmly into his own. Trying to intimidate him for once, giving a taste of his own medicine. When he looks away, a slight flush gracing his face, I know that I was right.

So he still has a crush on me. Good. I can play with this knowledge in case they mean to keep me captive for whatever bizarre reasons for God only knows for how long.

"As you just said Ravus, let me clean up first, dress myself-" I pause to look down on my body to only see myself dressed up in my briefs. I try not to squirm under Ravus' eager eyes as they trail slowly along my almost naked body.

I clear my throat awkwardly. "I'll meet you as soon as I'm presentable."

"You are in your enemies territory, this is my domain, since when do you get to decide what you-"

"Ravus." Cor steps in. "Stop it. Go, let me handle this."

I can see how Ravus bites on the inside of his cheek. "All right." He turns around, leaving the laboratory with silent footsteps.

Cor steps closer to me to unclasp the leather belts and chains around the bed that have constricted each one of my movements. As I stare completely incredulous at the choice of restriction to bind me, I don't know why I find this suddenly hilarious and I joke, "Kinky. Does Ravus have a slight S&amp;M fetish?"

"I wouldn't know." Cor smirks slightly in reply. "Why? Interested to find out?"

Never having expected the death-serious samurai to joke like this, I give an uncomfortable laugh and shrug a bit helplessly.

I hear his defeated sigh. "Ah, so you found out that Ravus likes you. A bit too much if I might say so. Not that my opinion in this case should matter to you both."

Yeah. I am aware of his lust for me. Just moments before, Ravus' hungry eyes, as they caressed my body, spoke enough volumes to fill not only one book but an entire encyclopedia of sex magic.

When Cor moves away from the place I've been lying on all this time, my arms and legs now finally unbound, I get to stretch my entire body heartily. "This revelation doesn't change my perception that I have of Ravus so far, which I have to admit isn't exactly on the positive side at the moment."

Joking all aside, I roll my shoulder blades a few times, wincing at the slight pain when they crack back into their place.

I turn to look with a serious expression in my eyes at my father's most trusted companion, bodyguard and confidant.

"Explain yourself. What are you doing in Niflheim? Have you changed sides?"

All of a sudden Cor gets down on his knees, bowing down to me and looking resolutely at the floor in front of him. "I deeply apologize for not being able to get in contact with you, Noctis. There is a good reason for my decision to stay at Ravus' side for the time being."

I wait for him to continue.

When I see that he doesn't speak any further, I say to him, "The reason for your decision... I assume I'm not going to like it."

"You want the truth?"

"Why not? It would be the best place to start."

He squeezes his eyes tightly shut, his expression forlorn. "It's complicated."

"What isn't?" Is my dry remark.

I wait for a while, watching the various expressions of his emotions playing on his face. When he still doesn't say anything else, an aggravated sigh escapes me. Letting my inner anger slip out a little more than I intended, I say in a strained voice, "Then let me be the one to kindly remind you, that you have given me no reason, yet, of why I shouldn't just kill you on the spot. As far as the demise of my father goes, you are not only under the highest suspicion of being a traitor to my family, but you are currently believed by everyone to be dead, and yet, I see you here alive before me. Tell me, Cor. How did they force you to join the enemy and to conspire with Iedolas Aldercapt's son of all people?"

I form my hands into tight fists when Cor continues to resolutely stare at the floor. Still staying absolutely silent.

"You were like an uncle to me, you cared for me, I grew up having you changing my nappies for Eos' sake! You always had my highest respect and admiration. I can't give you up just yet and I still want to believe in you."

"Again, I apologize. I'm not allowed to speak about it."

I try to ignore the stinging his words have given me, hurting me strongly, my anger rising as a result and so I ask, "Is it because of you that my father died? Did you weaken the protective barrier around Lucis? Did you help Niflheim to infiltrate our capital and allowed the Crystal to be stolen by Aldercapt?"

"..."

"COR! Talk to me, damn it!" My right fist punches the mattress below me to make some room for all the boiling rage and disappointment inside of me.

When there is still no reaction, I say in a hollow voice, "So you did truly turn your back to your one and only true home."

"What? No, never!"

Ah, finally a reaction.

"Noctis, don't get me wrong. I _can't _tell you the reason of why I'm here. I _can't_ tell you who was responsible for your fathers death, not yet. It's for the best."

I watch his form shake genuinely in anger and in sadness for the loss of my father - the loss for his best friend.

"But if you really want to look for the traitor, look at your father's connections. Your uncle might have known more about it."

Well, I guess that's all that I can get out of him. How should I reach my uncle? He's still in Insomnia, held captive by Niflheim's forces...

"Enough. Let's clean you and dress you properly up. Ravus waits for you... he at least is in a position to tell you more than I can."

Hell, I hate it when he does this. Always evading and avoiding important topics. I'm not a child anymore.

"What are you? A dog? Does Ravus hold you on a leash now?" That's my last attempt to rile him up, for now.

He raises an eyebrow at me in question and I raise both of my own at him in response.

All right. Fine. I get it.

"You really won't tell me anything. No wonder my father trusted you so much, you are a true samurai, honest and absolutely loyal to the cause you strongly believe in," I compliment him with a slight pout on my lips.

Cor smiles slightly, bowing his head to me in acknowledgment of my honest compliment to him, a sign for him that I decided to trust him.

So I give up for now, having no other choice but to trust his judgment for the time being.

He takes me into his strong arms and I let him carry me to the bathroom, my legs still too weak from weeks of having been strapped to the bed.

I can't say for sure that I look forward to talk to Ravus. Not when this guy can't keep his admittedly gorgeous eyes to himself...

His blatant desire makes me very uncomfortable.

**...**

"Do you two need anything else?"

Cor waits outside at the still open door, ready to leave Ravus and me alone. I take this opportunity to look around me.

Ravus living rooms look, as I expected, tastefully decorated. I can see that Ravus loves ancient relics, some items seem to be very interesting. I'm intrigued and I plan to have a closer look at all of them after our conversation.

"No, thank you Cor. You may leave us alone."

I patiently wait until Cor closes the door after himself with an echoing click.

Ravus turns his attention back to me, and the first thing that I do is to walk straight up to him, in long but quick strides, to punch his much too handsome face with all the rage boiling inside of me.

He falls backwards on his sofa from the impact, holding his nose with one hand and staring up at me with a knowing look.

"This was for invading my personal space and for taking my past life memories without my permission," I explain to him coldly, feeling a lot better now that my frustration with him did lessen a few notches because of my violent outlet.

Ravus startles me when he starts laughing softly, instead of being angry or shocked, and then he shifts his body to sit upright, composing himself on his sofa to look like the perfect host that he under normal circumstances probably would be. Well, if his nose wouldn't suddenly start bleeding like a fountain and dripping on his quite expensive looking carpet under his feet right now.

I think I can hear a regretful sigh escaping him. "I truly was prepared for the worst. I must admit that I got away quite easily considering the bold liberty that I took to infringe upon your free will."

"Oh, so you were prepared for more pain? I knew it, you are of the kinky type. The leather belts and chains holding me captive on the bed did give your secret fetish away," I joke, now feeling a bit sorry for striking my anger so suddenly at him. He actually saved my life, and in the end those people didn't torture, nor hurt me in any way.

Not that this is excusing his behavior or making the issue of him invading my privacy any lighter.

I sit down on the sofa directly opposite of him and grab an apple from the table between us to have a hearty bite from it, feeling ravenous as I wait for his reaction to my joke.

His cheeks look flushed, red as ripe tomatoes, while he drinks a small potion to heal the bruise and get rid of his nosebleed. I'm somewhat disappointed that he shrugs my joke away, changing the subject, "That was a good punch. I've heard a lot of good things about your combat skills, apparently the people were not jesting about it."

I watch how he leans back on his couch to make himself comfortable and then there he goes again. Watching me intently while I proceed to eat my delicious apple. I can't stop the shiver of my body...

"Ravus, why am I really here? Aside to the fact that I quench your obvious thirst to find out more about my previous lives," I cut straight to the meaty part of our meeting, wanting to clear up my confusion about his true intentions towards me first.

"How much did you hear Cor and me talk?" His bright, almost white glowing eyes are looking seriously into mine.

Eos, here he goes again, making my body shiver against my will.

I refuse to further acknowledge suddenly finding myself, for some bizarre and inexplicable reason, attracted to him.

I refuse to think about the fact, that for reasons that are still a mystery to me, he desired me all these years and that he still does so today.

I don't even know why he makes me squirm in my seat all over again. I know he wants me, but I don't, or do I? Okay, anyone with two, proper working eyeballs attached to his head would find Ravus handsome beyond words - or so I keep telling myself, to shake myself awake from the danger of being captivated by him.

To hide the effect he has on me, I reply bluntly, "I heard everything, and now I want to know everything else."

"Then let's start from the beginning," is his simple answer.

He stands up to walk over to his bookshelves, taking some ancient looking books out of them and then places everything on the table in front of us with a thud.

Heh, so he truly is ready to tell me everything he knows. Consider me surprised.

After Ravus sits back down on his previous seat, he opens up the first book and points at an old painting inside.

"Before we talk about this, you should know that I'm not a mortal being, Noctis. I'm not completely human, I never have been."

I blink up at Ravus in confusion and shock.

Not completely human? What in the world?

"The person you see inside this painting was my younger brother. He wasn't a human being, not in the sense you might understand."

I furrow my brows as I place the heavy book on my lap to have a closer look at the person depicted in the beautiful painting.

"Chronus was his name. The people living in the ancient civilization of Accoris once fondly called beings like us Gods. Chronus was one of the many ancient Deities that once graced the Earth with their extraordinary presence. They bestowed upon humanity the much needed technology and knowledge to advance civilization according to divine will."

I've read the tale about Accoris when I was a child. I never thought that the tale was founded on truth...

That's strange. Looking at this absolutely breathtaking otherworldly being, his powerful aura emanating from this original painting, makes me heady with longing. I just can't take my eyes away from the most beautiful face that I've ever seen. Chronus' hair is painted in gold, his eyes such a brilliant bright blue, that they almost seem to be glowing white. His face is so very graceful, noble, masculine and yet androgynous... so incredibly radiant and stunning that I have trouble breathing. Not entirely human, but a face worthy of a Deity indeed.

What is this feeling? I strongly feel as if I should know him. I'm getting utterly lost inside his beautiful bright eyes, strongly attracted to him in the way I am attracted to only one other person that I know of.

The words just stumble out of my mouth before I can catch myself, "I know this person."

Ravus just watches my reaction before saying something that makes my blood pump with excitement. "Of course you would feel that way. I thought this picture would trigger something in your subconscious mind, that's why I did show it to you first."

My trembling fingers stroke over the fragile looking page, caressing the surface of the ancient material in tender motions, hating the fact that my skin can't reach the warmth of Chronus' gorgeous face. The artist who captured the feelings of this incredible individual was very skilled. It's as if I can feel the deep love the Deity has for the one he thinks of as he looks in yearning somewhere far away into the distance. I can feel his strong longing resonating with mine and it's resurfacing with a sudden vehemence with the same level of yearning that I've only ever felt for Prom in this life.

I start to shake all over, my excitement growing, having already an inkling of who he might be. Even the alien force inside of me feels elated at seeing his gorgeous face again.

I lift my still trembling hand before my lips, whispering softly the most pressing question from the forefront of my mind against the palm of my hand, my stomach making flip flops full of anticipation, my heart hammering, wanting desperately for Ravus to confirm my inner inkling, "Your older brother... did he know me as well? Were we close?"

"Yes, he did. You were."

Oh my God...

Tears blurry all of a sudden my entire sight in front of me and I wipe them furiously away, only for more to come out of the corner of my eyes as I stare in disbelief at Chronus' beauty.

Ravus leans forward, placing his hand on my knee, but I'm too entranced and shocked to react to it.

"Noctis, your past self, Atlas, the King of Accoris, was married to Chronus. My brother was known as the 'Father of Time'. The love between the two of you is still unmatched even to this day."

Gods...

I can't even properly listen to Ravus words. My heartbeats are roaring inside my ears like crazy, my legs feel all heavy as if they were lead, and I press the painting of Chronus to my pounding chest as I bend down to hide my face and I start to cry hot tears of happiness, anguish, longing, craving.

Prom...

I just found you again.

I finally know who you truly are.

Now I know, that you are not from this world.

Now I know, that you are still alive.

...

To be continued.


	11. Accoris - Part One - Prompto POV

Heya,

next chapter online :).

This time Prom POV - just in case you wondered what happened to him, fufu. It's the first part of his perspective. I will switch to Noct POV and Prom POV with every new chapter and letting the story grow until ... well. Until ;).

Have fun!

Kamuel

...

**Chapter Eleven - Accoris Part One - Prompto POV**

…

_Prompto ...  
_

... I can hear somebody calling my name.

_Prom ...  
_

I feel hands shaking me a little, then stroking gently over my face.

„Noct .. is this you?" I ask with deep hope colouring my voice.

A soft chuckle. _„Yes and no …"_

With a sudden jolt I lift myself up, only to feel seriously ill straight after, and with a miserable sounding groan I fall back down on the huge bed that I'm lying on. „Ugh, I feel terrible, what's wrong with me?" I ask myself, fighting with the urge to throw up from all the dizziness in my head.

„Be careful, you still have a high fever. Let's take it one step at a time. The etheric energy around this place has been too much for your body. You are going to need a few days to adjust to the unusual strong etheric climate existing here."

A place with too much life energy? Never heard of such a place before ...

Hands are coming up to my forehead to place something soft and cool over it.

Ahh, this is heaven, I start to feel better already.

When I'm sure that the room stopped spinning around me, I glance up at the person talking to me to thank him and I do a sudden double take. „Noct …?"

That's really him! The conversation wasn't my imagination!

Did I survive?

My arm is instantly shooting forward to grasp his upper arm, pulling him down to me to embrace him fiercly. „You are alright!„ I say to him completely overwhelmed, my whole body shaking in relief that I didn't die and that Noct is here by my side. „Noct, you don't know how relieved I am, we survived!" I press my lips against his cheek and hug him as close to my body as possible - afraid that if I let go again he is going to disappear this time for real.

He chuckles softly against my ear and is stroking over my hair with such tender movements. They work like a calming balm for my stressed out soul and I purr with relish, pressing my body as close to him as I can.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I love him so damn much ...

The strong feelings I have for him need some kind of outlet, so I whisper to him: „Noct, I love you ... " I think I'm about to squeeze the breath out of him, but he isn't complaining so far. It feels so amazing to hold him against me that I just can't let go of him any time soon.

All my previous fears and horrors are instantly chased away by his gentle presence. His fingers working their wonders over my scalp, as they stroke over my hair and massage my skin in soothing motions. The only thing that matters to me in this moment is, that he and I are alive and well, that we are together again. I sigh out in bliss and enjoy his familiar warmth against my skin. He is the only one who can make me feel safe.

To think that we almost would have lost each other in this life …

„Noct, please, hold me tightly … don't let go of me ." My voice breaks, the growing emotions in my chest too much for me to bear. Starting to cry, while hiding my face against his skin inbetween his soft throat and neck and nuzzling the warm skin there, needing suddenly more physical proof that I'm really held inside his arms. That I'm not dreaming or gone to some kind of afterlife. I'm so relieved that I didn't die and that I didn't hurt him terribly when I sacrificed myself for him - because I'm still here.

The desperate expression on his face before the grenade hit the ground was simply heartbreaking. But what alternative did I have? He is the most important person in my life and I wanted him to live on, to avenge his father and to become the best King that the world has ever seen ...

Noct starts squeezing me tightly back, kissing the top of my head and is holding me gently as I cry silently against him, still nuzzling his neck, my tears soaking up the fabric of his shirt.

I don't know how much time has passed, I don't know what happened while I've been probably unconscious, but I wish we could hold each other for a long, long time. Didn't he win his bet with Ignis? Because I can't wait to have the entire week to enjoy each night uninterrupted with him ... I really can't wait. So I pull him on the nape of his neck towards me, turning his face to mine, needing to feel his soft lips as badly as I need water to survive.

But then, he is lifting his face further up to watch me intently, caressing my tears away. Then he speaks. And I tremble with yearning for him because his voice is laced with such overflowing, deep love, of the kind I never got to hear before from him: „You are truly the same, no matter in which era you are born into. My future soul is really blessed to have you, Prompto. Thank you for being there for me, for saving my life."

I smile at him, a little bit uneasy inside, gnawing at my bottom lip, confused at what he has just said.

He places his slightly calloused hands on each side of my face and his long beautiful fingers are caressing me tenderly. As I take a really close look at him, I can see now that his face seems to be a little different, somehow even more noble and beautiful. The way he is holding himself seems more majestic, more mature than I remember him to be from before. His body language shows that he has seen and experienced too much in his life already, and that the whole world seems to be pushing down on his shoulders - a harsh world full of expectations and obligations.

His hairstyle is almost the same, only some inches shorter at the sides of his incredibly good looking face. And his eyes ...

His eyes sparkle full of intense and honest emotions.

I whisper with a hint of dread in my guts: „Noct … this is you, isn't it?"

Noct is just smiling warmly without saying a word, continuing to caress the lines of my face with a very gentle expression on his face and I feel the unease in the pit of my stomach grow. The only thing holding me back from jumping up in panic, is the amount of love for me that I can clearly see shining inside his blue eyes.

Just ... who is he?

I give a start when someone walks into the room and is saying amused: „Aha, and so comes the day when I finally caught you red-handed, Atlas. Your endless love for me truly knows of no bounds. Flirting and seducing my younger future self to sate your voracious appetite. Tell me, am I at an age, where my wrinkles are showing already? Thanks to you I'm getting jealous over my younger self. But please, do go on. Don't mind me. I'll just sit myself down on the floor, right at this small corner next to the both of you, and I'll watch your frivolous reunion with extreme pleasure."

The Noct-alike man starts laughing, clearly amused, and is lifting himself fully up, letting go of me with a last tender sqeeze on my arm to look at the person now walking forward to stand beside him. „Chronus, don't be such a drama queen. You know my heart belongs solely to you. And you know it doesn't matter to me from which period of time you are from, my love for your soul is reaching far, from the deepest parts of Hell straight up beyond the Kingdom of Heaven."

My eyes grow impossibly large. Atlas ... Chronus ... what do they mean?

What's going on here … ?

The man named Chronus is making me absolutely dazed with awe and it's helping me to stop my growing confusion for a moment. I never knew that such otherworldly-looking men existed on Earth. Everything about his appearance is … I just don't have any words in my vocabulary to describe him. I would need Ignis and his brilliant ways of eloquence to find the proper expression for this remarkable man (forget it, I already sound like Ignis).

Just imagine the word beautiful - only enhanced by thousands of words of the same meaning and then you get to understand how -beautiful- he truly is. It's simply beyond description.

But even with this high level of beauty-ness, my eyes are still drawn to the man next to him.

To Atlas ...

My heart is beating like crazy because of him and I'm really confused at why. I get now that he isn't Noct. But then ... why does he look and handle himself so much like Noct, while at the same time being completely different?

Watching him interact with Chronus is making me long strongly for my Noct … for the entire time I really thought that it was him holding me tightly just now.

It felt so real ... he felt so real.

And now the disappointment inside of me starts to hurt ... a lot.

To distract myself from my pain, I continue to focus on those two mysterious men before me. Both of them standing side by side is quite the impressive sight for me … and I gulp down, suddenly feeling much too inferior and minor in comparison.

And I think there is something going on with this place I'm at - something important and I seem to be the only one here who doesn't get it yet.

Chronus closes the distance between them and boldly reaches out under the chin of Atlas, trailing his forefinger upwards to those lips that I myself wanted to kiss just a few seconds ago, and I blush in embarrassement when I finally realize that they are lovers.

One has to be blind not to recognize the high level of intimacy they have in their eyes for each other.

And then the gorgeous looking fair-haired man says with a mischievous smile on his lips: „Hmmh, don't you worry, my King. I found the sight that greeted me to be very interesting. At example, it gave me this brilliant idea. We should try out mirrors from time to time, to spice things up between us a little bit."

Oh please, tell me they don't really talk about hot stuff now.

The Noctis look-alike is smirking and nibbling playfully on the other man's finger. „You little minx … one day you are going to be the death of me. Insatiable, that's what you are.", he growls at him, his intent to devour his lover now clear as a day. And just then I'm convinced that they really forgot about me, because Atlas is pulling Chronus with a swift move to his body and then they look deeply into each others eyes and I feel my body temperature shoot high up through the roof of my now fried brain, right as they start kissing each other very sensually.

Oh man, they are unbelievable … did they truly forgot that they are not alone in this room?

Their passionate kisses turn into heavy tongue kissing and as they grow more and more intense and blazing, I feel my cheeks heat up with force. When Chronus is moaning breathlessly, I just can't take my eyes away from them, the fierce love and desire between them too captivating.

I watch those two for a few long seconds, because they remind me so much of Noct and I when we first kissed at the Coernix gas station on that first night we became lovers, and I'm getting lost in my memories ... until I become aware of doing something improper.

I suddenly clear my throat quite loudly, in hopes they get my hint and I avert bashfully my eyes to look down at the blanket in front of me, playing with the fabric in my hands feeling nervous and turned on.

Damn … they are so hot together … they were only kissing, but I swear to God I've never seen this kind of erotic connection of lips against lips on any lovers before. Like sparks of magic, the desire for each other is flying everywhere, that even while I'm not looking at them I still can feel the smoldering heat in this room affecting me.

„Hnng … ah .. Atlas, wait! Wait, I said." Chronus is squeaking, sounding embarrassed all of a sudden. But Atlas seems to be over the moon with him, probably eating him up right now, having his hands where it matters most to them (on the bottom, like Noct always does to me), because Chronus is moaning again and I hear how Atlas is catching him into quite the hot kiss again. And then I lift my eyes up under my fringe to look if they have stopped and I get to see how Chronus is trying to quickly wrench himself away and Atlas responding with a disappointed groan.

I quickly look down again, listening to their heavy breathing for a short while, and I bite on my own tongue - oh yes, I know of the feeling of frustration when the passionate sparks culminate into this blazing need to find release and for whatever reason you just can't continue.

It was horrible for Noct and I, the time when Ignis and Gladio walked inside the caravan that first night, and we needed to stop fumbling and fondling each other like some horny teenagers that we suddenly had turned into, not to expose ourselves before their eyes. The heady desire in my groin was killing me softly that night and I remember Noct's frustration when he had punched the wall. Now I find this quite funny and I smile fondly at the memory.

After Chronus and Atlas finally compose themselves, I hear Chronus say in a breathless voice to me:. „Ehm, forgive us, Prompto. It's always the same with the two of us. It's been hardly a week since we've been married and ... we just can't keep our hands off from another. Please don't think badly of us and forgive our bad manners."

Atlas is smirking behind his hand while he is winking at me right when he is giving Chronus a playful clap on his bottom and not removing his hand afterwards.

"Atlas! Hands off. Now."

Atlas is only shrugging sheepishly, opening his mouth to make a biting motion with his teeth into the air, as if wanting to bite on Chronus and devour him whole.

I roll my eyes in amusement at their behaviour.

Newlyweds. Of course.

I suddenly need to laugh inwardly at this. Didn't Noct and I recently joke about our newlywed brains and stuff? What a coincidence. When I see Noct again I have to tell him about this, he would find this as hilarious as I do.

Looking once again at those two - love birds - like Gladio likes to call Noct and I, I notice the uncanny similiarity between all four of us.

Is this what Noct and I look like to outsiders at home? All lovey-dovey? I slap my hand against my forehead and look sideways in thought. Well, I guess from now on I should be more careful how I affect others around me, especially Ignis and Gladio … no wonder they are so grumpy sometimes. Surely they miss the same kind of intimacy when they watch something sensually like this happening before their very eyes. I now feel kind of bad for how I behaved in front of them until now.

I definitely can understand these feelings Chronus and Atlas have for each other, because at home I'm not able to keep my hands off from Noct either ...

Atlas is coming closer and looking at me with genuine concern in his eyes. „Prompto. How are you feeling? Do you think you are well enough, for us to explain your situation?"

„Oh … ehm."

Very eloquent of you, Prom.

I look shyly up into his eyes and then nod at him to confirm that I'm well enough - somewhat afraid of stuttering if I were to open my dumb mouth once more. I think I developed a stupid crush on Atlas - only because he reminds me so much of a more mature Noct.

I feel my face heat up again when Atlas is suddenly placing his hand on my forehead, his touch electrifying my body. Well, it's not my fault that they managed to arouse me with their previous stunt, and because of this I feel somewhat ashamed in their presence, not knowing how to react in front of them now.

I throw an apologizing glance at Chronus, but he is just smiling knowingly at me, thank God he doesn't address the slight problem I have in front of Atlas, and neither is he angry at me for feeling this way about his husband.

Seriously though, what the hell am I thinking?!

I'm so confused ... confused over why Atlas is making my knees weak.

To think that mere minutes ago I confused him with Noct, and that I wanted to kiss him as hotly as Chronus did just now ... I feel kind of stupid and flustered for invading his personal space in such a manner. But then, why didn't he pull away in the beginning of it all? Why did he let me snuggle and fondle him so intimately, when he already is married to such a gorgeous man beside him?

Even now, Atlas looks and acts towards me like he really loves me as much as Noct does ... and this doesn't make any sense to me.

And then ... there is something deep inside of me that keeps pulling me to him … the urge to kiss him breathless is now stronger than ever. I want to feel the same rapture from those sensual tongue-kisses that Chronus has felt ... and I feel his inner power calling to me as it did back at home and I've always been too weak to ignore the allure and pleasure the force inside of him promised to me in exchange for my life force.

So ... in what way is Atlas related to Noct?

I meet his blue eyes once more and shudder with sudden arousal, blushing like a little girl with a huge crush just when he is smirking at me in a sexy way - I think he knows of what I've been thinking all this time.

He is glancing sideways at Chronus and I can't decipher their gazes thrown at each other, but I can see then Chronus smile softly and nod at him - a sign that only much later I get to understand ...

Atlas is caressing my face one last time, before he moves slightly away. Why do I feel such a yearning for the touch of this man, when I already know that he is somebody different?

My brain is killing me here.

I watch in silence, trying to figure out my feelings, as both men sit down beside me on the king-sized bed, making themselves comfortable while holding each other and I suddenly wish that Noct would be here … I want to be held by him in the same way that Atlas does to Chronus. Really, they are such a gorgeous couple … I can see from here how much they love each other. But instead of feeling envious, I feel very happy for them. And because of my current thoughts, a warm smile is spreading on my face without my conscious awareness.

„You look happy." Chronus is nudging me out of my thoughts with his elbow.

„What? Oh. Ehm ... it's because watching you two, obviously loving each other so deeply, makes me very happy to see. I'm genuinely happy for you two."

The beautiful men sitting at my side are looking fondly at each other and then back at me.

„ ... and the sight of you holding each other makes me long for my soul mate very much …" I add softly, looking at Atlas and longing for Noct with every fiber of my being.

Chronus is touching my shoulder in understanding and then says: „Prompto, to clear up your confusion first, of why you are here and who we are to you, let us introduce ourselves to each other. As you now know, I'm Chronus. I am what you would call a reincarnation of yours, living in your distant past, because you and I share the same spirit inside. From this, we can further say, that you are my future self. All my experiences - of hardship and suffering, of happiness and love - are stored inside of you. My enlightenment, my knowledge of the profound truths of our existence, my power - to make it short, everything that I am now, is already saved somewhere inside the deepest parts of your subconscious mind. I'm you and you are me. Where we differ, is in only our individual level of awareness."

I look up into his eyes with a deep frown. "You mean, I really travelled into the past?" I ask, while trying to understand how such a beautiful human being like Chronus could ever be my past self. I have a whole different image of myself in my head right now - vastly different and vastly boring.

But to think that all he has experienced is already inside of me, hidden somewhere ... I truly wish in this moment to be him. To be as gorgeous as him, as noble and graceful as him ...

„Indeed, you have traveled into the far past. Oh, and you already have met Atlas. He is the ruler of this Kingdom, the King of Accoris."

Atlas is then adding with a gentle voice: "I apologize for the quite informal introduction, Prompto. But our special circumstances are allowing us to be quite personal, private and more ...intimate with each other. And I would prefer if you think of me as a close friend. Don't even think about throwing formal words around in my presence, or else ...", he finishes with a smirk on his perfectly shaped lips ...

Oh, trust me, I would prefer to think of you as Noct right now and throw erotic themed words in your captivating presence instead ...

I shake my head to clear my brain from this tantalizing image. It's not the right time and place to fantasize about something that goes into a lewd direction.

Chronus then is giving a short laugh, saying: "To make things easier for you, just think of me simply as your inner voice of good reason. It can be quite strange to talk to yourself in real life, isn't it?" Chronus is grinning widely at me when Atlas is pinching and tickling his sides and then he gives a squeak of laughter, playfully hitting Atlas on his thigh.

"Atlas! Stop that. Hands off."

Those two ... seriously ...

Afterwards he continues in a serious voice: "Here, in Accoris, I'm entrusted with the duty of protecting the flow of time. I've been created with the power to alter the past, the present and of course, the future according to divine will."

A new frown on my forehead appears and deepens. "Created? How?"

"Prompto. Your true self, our true self, is not from this world. Hence, our material bodies were not 'born' into the physical plane like all human beings are, but rather 'created', by higher beings living in the Kingdom of Heaven - our true original home. There was no physical sexual connection involved into our creation. Not in the sense as humans understand. Our bodies were created with the pure intent of love, which has the highest, most potent frequency and potency. A love, that you can only understand as an enlightened individual. And so, the bodies that we share in each life are of a complete different type compared to the 'born' bodies, genetically and etherically. Our bodies need to be able to adapt to the inner power for the time when we wake up to our true potential, life after life. Because you and I come originally from a place that exists beyond time and space, the people of this world at this time and age call us Gods or Deities. Our otherworldly appearance, our advanced knowledge and technology and our exceptional powers, are a result of us bypassing the usual incarnating procedures that all human beings must go through to advance."

Well, all of this would sound completely crazy if Noct wouldn't have told us before about the spiritual world, about his father living on, about Etro being a living entity and about our immortal existence. So ... I'm not really that surprised at what Chronus just revealed to me.

Just ... I don't -want- to believe that I'm his future self, that he is my past self.

I just can't see it.

Not me.

I still give a nod to him, so that he can explain further.

"Prompto, the power of your inheritance and of your sacrifice has brought you here into the far past. The time has come for you now, to get initiated into your family's best kept secrets. As I'm the one who knows myself and yourself the best, I'm responsible to guide you through your lessons, insomuch so you can reach your highest potential. The power of your inheritance is the legacy you received as the sole heir of the Chronos bloodline."

"Chronos bloodline ...? Wait a moment." I halt him with my hand to give me a second to think.

"You had me - until you mentioned secrets, legacy, inheritance and my family. I just don't understand. My family and I were fugitives. We escaped from a terrible war. I was too young to remember what was happening around me, but you make it sound as if my family and I were part of something important. They had kept secrects from everybody? I don't have any major memories of my family and ancestors, nor do I have any remaining items where I could have read or learn about those. But, I can assure you, they all were ordinary people. At least, I can say that -I- am not important in any way. I don't have any special powers inside of me, as you keep insisting that I have - else I wouldn't have died. I don't even -look- otherwordly handsome, nor do I have some kind of extraordinary knowledge or have experienced enlightenment. Even in my group of friends back home, I'm the most clumsy, plain and easy-going-type of guy. Are you sure, you have the right man for the initiation you mentioned? It all sounds much too important for a simpleton like me."

Chronus is watching me with a sad expression written all over his beautiful face. "Prompto ..."

"Yeah, I know that I don't think that highly of myself - I never did."

Then why do I feel as if I need to apologize to Chronus ... ?

I add for the good measure: "And in no way are we the same, past self or not. I mean-", I stop to sign with my finger between Chronus and me to make him understand that the gap between us is too big. "You can't be MY past self. You joked before about mirrors. Did you look recently into one? At how mind-blowingly gorgeous you are? And did you look at MY face properly? Yes? I don't know how you perceive yourself every day, Chronus, but compared to you I look entirely different and actually quite bland and boring."

He is blinking confused at my serious face, not really understanding what I'm getting at. With a defeated sigh I repeat what I meant with other words.

"Look. To say this in my terms, YOU are Mona Lisa, think of a famous beautiful painting, and -I- am a simple stick figure drawn by an amateur in comparison. My humble genes and DNA didn't bring over any of your otherworldly beauty into the future, as you can clearly see from my un-sparkling face. I'm small, I'm lanky, I'm pale all over, full of freckles and thanks to the persistently ugly dark circles under my eyes, people all around me do always avoid me because they think I'm heavy on drugs or something. My worst trait is sometimes being too loud and noisy, while my best trait is that I found love of the deepest kind that I share back home with my soul mate and I became a better man because of it - I recently sacrificed my life for Noct and would do so again, as many times as it is needed, for him to stay alive and well. I would follow him into the deepest parts of Hell, because HE is special. And this is now the crucial part for you to understand: you have mistaken me for Noct, while HE should have been here, to be intiated into whatever inheritance his father has left for him and become a true King."

Chronus is opening his mouth, starting to speak, but I halt him with my hand again.

I take a short break to breathe out, then I add absolutely convinced of being right: "Taking everything I just said into account, my point is: you definitely got the wrong guy. It's Noct you should have rescued, not me." I finish, crossing my arms and nodding to myself for coming to the conclusion that makes the most sense to me.

Those two must be bonkers, in no way do I fit into the things they just told me. Noct is the cool, beautiful and powerful one, not me. It can't be me.

When there is no reaction and no words are being spoken, I lift my head to look at what's wrong and my face must look stupid or something, because Atlas and Chronus are staring at me as if I would have grown several heads on my shoulders.

"What?", I ask finally to get someone talking to me.

My body is jumping in fright when Atlas is roaring in laughter, falling backwards and almost down from the bed, laughing his heart out.

Chronus is snorting his own laughter into his hand, hiding his face from me and I rise both of my brows in irritation. "Hey! Stop laughing guys, I am damn serious here."

But I can't help it, when I see them laughing so much I start smiling at them, nudging Atlas with my feet for him to stop. He is lifting his head, looking into my eyes, wheezing, then is throwing his head back deep into the blanket and resuming to laugh hard, throwing his arm over his eyes. I nudge him again and he is nudging me back with his feet and then I have enough of him so I throw a pillow straight at his red coloured face in revenge for laughing so much at me - but he only laughs harder, turns himself to the side and is hugging a laughing Chronus to hide his face from me.

Damn him ... if only I wouldn't find myself attracted by Atlas ... now even more, because the behaviour that I see before me, is pure Noct ... he would behave the same way in this situation.

"If you both have calmed down any time soon, I think we don't have all day, tell me, what did I say that sounded so damn funny?" I try to look angry, but the sight of them laughing together is really ... beautiful.

Finally they get apart from each other, lifting themselves to a sitting position once more and then Atlas does something very surprising. He is shifting to sit behind me this time and I watch absolutely amazed and astonished how he is hugging me from behind, pulling me to his warm and strong chest to lean on him and I'm so flabbergasted and flustered to have skin contact with him again that I'm behaving awkwardly now. Not knowing where I should place my limbs - afraid of touching him anywhere, because he is off-limits to me. But Atlas is placing his arms around me, pulling me right to his inviting body and I try not to think about how incredible he feels against me ... my heart is racing when Chronus is placing his hand on my shoulder. And holy hell, I'm not sure I can follow the serious conversation right now - not with this hot Noct-look alike behind my back and holding me against his chest and hips ...

Please ... someone help me.

I don't know what to do or think anymore.

Then Atlas is speaking softly, just beside my left ear and again, I shudder with pleasure when his breath is tickling the fine hairs on my skin. "You seem to be focused on physical appearance too much - but Prompto, let me tell you that physical beauty is not eternal. On the contrary, all that is of material substance is evanescent." He then stops to squeeze me gently. "It's your inner spirit that counts - your true self that lives eternally." He places his right hand over my chest, right over my heart and adding: "And it is your heart, the home of your spirit, that is the most beautiful to me. It is your heart that is prevailing over time and space. Regardless of any time or age, or of any physical appearance that your body might have in each life - my true self, my heart, is recognizing yours in every single incarnation. It is recognizing every single body in which your immortal essence is dwelling. It doesn't care about outside appearances, because these don't outlive an immortal heart. My future self, Noctis, has chosen you out of your pure inner qualities. I'll always find you gorgeous and otherworldy, no matter what age and era I'm reborn into - no matter from what age and era you are coming from."

Oh Lord ... so Atlas -is- Noct. No wonder I felt so utterly smitten and excited in his presence ... it's him after all, only his past self. Now I can stop feeling bad about my feelings towards him. It's not wrong to yearn and crave for him, in my mind at least.

His words just now ... they manage to make me stronger, to feel better overall. Because of him I start to believe in myself. And because of what he just said to me, I feel fresh tears sliding against my cheeks, his words hitting some sore and neglected parts deep inside of my subconscious mind, and my tears flow further down, dripping on his hands that are currently embracing my chest.

Atlas is noticing and then he is holding me even tighter, as if I am the most precious person to him, pressing himself against my back, squeezing me firmly to his chest, almost crushing me in his embrace while he is placing his soft cheek against mine.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, my entire being shaken and completely blown away by the fierce, bittersweet love that I can feel by being surrounded inside his protective arms.

And then ... he whispers to me. The hot air puffing from his breaths and caressing softly the side of my lips, and I become all undone with raw emotions for him, sobbing like a child, when I hear him say:

"Prom. That's what true soul mates truly signifies."

...

to be continued.


	12. Lost - Part Two - Noctis POV

Hey everyone :),

thank you very much for reading so far and for all your comments and reviews and likes!

From now on it gets more and more interesting, as the tangled roots get un-tangled and more truths are revealed! O_OY I changed the name for the ancient civilization now to Accoris. Somehow I did forget that officially the beautiful waterfall-place was written Accordo and not Adorro. Forgive my mistake x_x I have dutyfully corrected every misspelling inside the past chapters.

Please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to drop me a comment or two! Your feedback is my nourishment ;)!

Kamuel

* * *

****Chapter 12 - Lost Part Two - Noctis POV****

**...**

I lift my trembling hands to wipe the tears away from my face, and then my fingers hesitate for a second, just when my elbow pushes against a warm body sitting on my right side.

What the...?!

When in the world did Ravus manage to sit beside me?

I got sidetracked by that painful, deep-rooted longing and by the sudden relief that I felt. After having seen the old painting of Prom's past life, the alien force inside made me tremble with an inner knowing, that Prom must have somehow survived that deathly explosion. That he might be alive and doing well... because he isn't fully human.

Only now do I become aware of Ravus' arm looped around my hips, sitting very close to me. Becoming aware of his soothing caresses over my lower back...

With a quick shove I push him away from me and mutter somewhat shell-shocked, "Don't touch me."

It's probably only my imagination, but the expression in his eyes is telling me that I did hurt him with this. I try not to squirm again under his gaze.

With a sigh Ravus lets go of me and says softly, "I apologize. It's just...," he pauses, taking a closer look at my face, but instead of finishing his sentence I hear another sigh. "It's nothing."

Then I watch him glance at the table, reaching out to the teapot with his right hand and then he pours the hot liquid inside the cup, placing it in front of me afterward. Defeat colors his gentle voice as he says, "Here, take a sip of your tea, it will calm you down."

I follow his movements in silence as he occupies his own seat opposite of mine once more, and only then do I allow myself to relax.

Hell... I'll never get used to all the strange emotions his close presence induces inside of me. I wish at least Ravus were ugly to look at, so that my heart wouldn't skip a beat whenever our eyes meet.

I dry off the damp skin on my cheeks with the back of my hands and then I place the heavy book on the table. The page with the beautiful painting of Prom's past self lying open before me so that I can glance at it as much and as long as I can. I mutter a quick 'thank you' toward Ravus, reaching out to the full teacup and take a careful sip out of the fresh boiled liquid. My eyes do not leave the ancient painting even for one second.

As the liquid is reaching my taste buds, my eyes grow wide as I recognize the aroma.

Honey Lemon Green Tea.

So it was Cor who made this... I know it because it's the same flavored tea that he had always made for me in the past, whenever I felt lonely and lost back then as a child.

It's my favorite tea.

Smiling slightly at the bittersweet memories, this brings me back to the topic of Cor and I ask Ravus, "What are your intentions towards Cor? Why does he take your orders? I swear to God, if you are forcing him to do anything against his will, I-"

"Don't worry about him," Ravus cuts me off in mid-sentence.

I watch him pouring himself a cup of tea as well and after he takes the cup into his hands, he leans on his seat, moving his long leg comfortably on top of the other as his radiant eyes catch mine once again.

It's really uncanny, how his attractive features closely resemble the ones of his younger brother... at least I now know why I felt attracted to him. This _must_ be the only reason.

We stare at each other for a while, my patience quickly draining as I wait for him to reveal further explanations.

Somehow, it's quite the comical situation.

Lucis versus Niflheim.

Both of us drinking our tea in peace and silence while staring into each others eyes as if we were involved into some kind of a furious battle of chess.

Not long after I feel as if I won whatever game we just seemed to have just played, because Ravus is the one who speaks first, "Cor is here on a mission, he came to me directly after my father got his dirty fingers on the Crystal."

My eyes lit up with confusion. "But, why you? Why did he choose to join the enemy?"

"I can't tell you all of the details because Cor didn't confide me into his concrete plans. For his and your own safety. But what I can share with you so far is, that he came to me because of your father. He sent Cor here."

"What?!" In my shock at hearing this news, my shaky cup of tea sloshes all of the remaining liquid over my trousers and I wipe over the wet fabric on my inner thigh with a frustrated sounding groan.

Ravus wordlessly holds out a napkin for me and I grab it from his hand to wipe the mess I made away with hasty movements. I place the empty cup back on the table. "Explain this to me. My father was the one to send Cor to you of all people?! I'm sorry but I find this difficult to believe. I want to know the exact reason, and I warn you, this better be good."

"I promised Cor not tell you."

I try to ignore the sudden growing irritation in my veins, they start to twitch on my temples and simultaneously itching like mad, just ready for a good scratch. I have Gladio to thank for my impulsive behavior sometimes. Today is such a day and I welcome my inner rage for once instead of swallowing my emotions down.

This is the second time today where I feel left out and where I feel being deceived by these people.

And if I hate something with passion, then it's people not trusting me to keep secrets close to my heart.

So I use my position as the new King of Lucis and demand with an authoritative voice, "Then break this promise right here and now. Ravus, if my father sent Cor here, his reasons do concern me as well, you know that."

Ravus takes calmly another sip of his tea, his attractive face expressing serenity, as if mocking me for emptying my own cup all over my inner leg. He stares meaningfully at the wet patch near to my groin, making me squirm in my own skin again, only to hear him say a minute or so later, "I can't tell you."

Eos in all seven hells!

My hands form themselves into tight fists on their own accord.

That's it!

I suddenly can hear several boiling veins popping up on my forehead and I imagine the content of my provoked brain bleeding all over my face in furious anger.

"ENOUGH already!" I shout at him in utter frustration.

"Do you think I'm just going to continue to put up with your charade?! I'm sick of it!"

My patience has run out once and for all!

I _need_ an outlet for everything that has happened to me so far!

So I stand up from my seat to walk around the table and I place my feet in front of a very surprised looking Ravus. I bend down, immediately taking a handful of his elegant looking shirt into my fists and pull him forcefully up.

Despite our difference in height, our noses are only inches apart as I hiss at him, my inner rage barely restrained, "First Cor and now you. You know what? Do me the favor and take your sneaky secrets to shove them forcefully back into the place they did come from. First you save my royal ass from dying, then you chain me up on a bed, restraining and drugging me for almost three weeks, as if I were some kind of a laboratory rat to you, and for what reason? Only for you to find some kind of a mysterious key existing only God knows where! And once this key really does fall into your slimy hands, what do you intend to do with it?!"

He blinks at me, opening his gorgeous lips to answer, but before he can utter even one word, I continue to hiss angrily, "All this time I've been your prisoner and you stole private moments of my past lives without any of my consent! Solely for your sick and bizarre private entertainment and joy!"

His eyes grow wider at this.

"Oh yes, Ravus, don't look at me like that, I know of your strange fascination with me."

For some reason his gorgeous face makes me even more angry and I can hear my voice becoming louder with each further sentence that comes out of my mouth.

"But then, imagine my surprise to find my father's personal bodyguard and best friend out of the blue joining Niflheim's forces and refusing to spit out to me his so called _complicated_ reasons for suddenly going along with Aldercapt's precious son's shady schemes! And then imagine my raging feelings inside, when I, only a few minutes ago, decided to trust the two of you for the time being, and then _you_ just had to go ahead and continue to play hide and seek with me again! What the hell, Ravus?! Whom do you two take me for?"

Ravus watches me calmly, not saying anything, as if he just waits for me to finish my childish tirade.

My breaths come out in short, agitated gasps, the rage inside of me almost bubbling over as I hiss at him one last time, "Nothing to say? Good. I'm now back at square one with you two. I don't trust you, Ravus. I'm going to leave this place _right now_. Just take Cor, your well kept secrets and my past life memories altogether and you can both go fuck yourselves several times over. I don't want to see your backstabbing faces in front of me ever again."

With that, I shove him as hard as I can back into his seat and I stomp my way towards the exit to get the hell out of here.

"Noctis! Wait-!"

"_Don't_ you ever dare to speak to me again." I turn my head to glance back at him one last time. "You are lucky right now that I'm out of magical energy, or else I would have _made_ you shut the hell up."

My body shakes from all the negative emotions boiling in my guts, feeling deceived, alone and utterly lost.

What had I been thinking?!

That drinking tea with my archenemy would change anything? I'm an idiot, that's what I am for trusting Ravus to help my case.

Here in Niflheim I have not _one_ soul on my side. The conversations today should be my hard won lesson.

I can't trust anybody, because they don't trust me in return.

That's it. I need to get out of here. Now.

So I open up the door with as much force as I can, the satisfying impact against the wall sounding like music to my ears, and then I start to walk outside into the hall just when Ravus calls one more time after me, utter fear lacing his voice, "Noctis, only Cor and I know about you, if somebody else sees you out there... please wait!"

I hear him run after me, his hand suddenly gripping me hard on my arm to pull me back inside. "I think you don't understand your grave situation! Please, my father mustn't know you are still alive. You'll not only get yourself in danger, but Cor and myself as well!"

"You should have given a thought about this before you decided to be all disingenuous with me. Let go of me!" With a hard shove I try to get rid of his hand, glaring at him.

"Noctis, please! Come back inside, we still have a lot to discuss, it's important-" Ravus stops moving and then goes rigid with fear all of a sudden.

Just when I want to ask what's wrong, we hear voices echoing in the distance.

Oh crap, people are coming up the stairs that are leading to Ravus' rooms!

Before I can make a smart decision, Ravus already pulls on me with all of his strength toward his rooms. Once we get back inside, he closes the door swiftly behind me, even going so far as to lock it up, and when the voices outside become louder, the footsteps getting closer, Ravus even dares to push me against the door, his entire body molding perfectly against mine and pressing me hard against the cold, woody surface.

I tense up, my eyes widening in alarm when his hands spread out on each side next to my head. We are so close to each other right now that I can feel his clean, agitated breaths tickling my face.

His close proximity shouldn't affect me anymore. I mean, it's only his similarity to Chronus that made me confused, but damn it all to hell, my body still shivers in delight wherever he touches me! I just don't understand what's going on with me anymore.

I gulp down the strange, insistent attraction, forcing it with all my might to disappear into nothingness, but when I feel it only intensifying, even arousing me instead, I growl at him in a low voice, "Ravus, I mean it, I'm on the verge of beating the crap out of your handsome face if you don't let go of me this instant!"

His eyes grow wide when they meet mine for a split second, my cheeks flushing from the intensity inside his eyes, but before he can say or do anything else we tense up as the people outside knock at the door a few times.

A man's voice is heard, "Ravus, it's me. Let me in."

I watch as Ravus' eyes close in dismay. The focused expression on his face tells me that he thinks furiously of a solution out of this situation.

"Ravus, are you home?"

Just when I'm about to open my mouth to ask him who the person outside is, because the man's voice sounds familiar to my ears, all of a sudden Ravus fully leans into me, my body trembling as I give a constrained, silent groan against my will, fighting with myself not to react to him in any way. Hell, he shouldn't feel _that_ good against me and yet I can't stop the delightful tremors rocking my groin into absolute excitement. I only catch a small glimpse of his smirk before he tilts his head without warning and his soft lips are swiftly pressed on mine to keep me silent.

For Heaven's sake...!

What in the world is he doing?! Kissing me all of a sudden!

And what in the world am I doing?! I should push him away!

The person outside tries to open the door, the wooden surface trembling against my back, but thankfully it stays close as it is firmly locked from the inside.

Ravus uses this opportunity to prolong the open-mouthed kisses, his lips admittedly very skilled in making my toes curl up in arousal, and despite my shock I feel myself giving in to his desires with a soft moan.

Why do I allow his seduction to happen? Why do I enjoy his ravenous kisses? What's wrong with me?

There are again several knocking sounds, and then the male voice startles us when the man shouts louder, "Ravus! I know you are at home. I need to speak to you urgently. Open the door."

I tense up again when my muddled brain finally recognizes the voice.

This is Ravus' father!

It's Iedolas Aldercapt!

I don't dare move nor shove Ravus away.

I don't even have time to think about the immediate danger we suddenly find ourselves in, nor do I have the courage to think of the intimate, all-consuming kisses that Ravus just stole from me. Not to mention my confusing reactions to them.

Ravus pushes himself away from my body, breathing hard and avoiding my eyes.

My heart hammers against my chest, the arousal and danger battling for dominance when Ravus takes my hand to guide me silently to a small, dark room.

He pushes me into the far corner, whispering his warning, "Stay here, I beg you, don't even think of breathing!"

With a firm nod of my head, I watch with dread as he draws the heavy, dark curtain in front of me close, shutting me visibly out from what is happening outside. I can hear how he rummages around, probably rushing to erase any traces of me being here and hiding his ancient books away. All the while my heart is beating itself almost out of my mouth, knowing that when his father catches sight of me now, he might even kill his very own son for conspiring against him.

Now that the absurd rage inside of me disappeared and is replaced with logic and fear in their stead, I start to regret my foolish behavior from before. The danger, of me being alive, and of Ravus and Cor hiding my presence and protecting me in the middle of Niflheim's territory, all too palpable at the moment.

The sounds of Ravus unlocking his door sharpen my sense of hearing immediately, and then I'm completely focused when I listen to the conversation happening on the other side of the curtain.

Ravus lets his father inside, sounding surprised as he greets him,_ "Father, I didn't expect you to be home so soon. I'm glad you've come."_

Aldercapt steps inside, his footsteps slow and heavy, his voice sounding suspicious._ "What took you so long to open the door? Why was it locked?"_

_"Oh, as you can see from my wet hair, I've been in the bathroom. You know how clumsy I sometimes am, I got myself covered in tea and needed to clean myself up and change my clothes. I took a long shower, I didn't want anybody visiting me right when I was walking around uncovered."_

I'm impressed that Ravus came up with such a believable lie in such a short moment.

_"I see."_ Aldercapt seems to be walking further inside and I imagine him sitting himself down on the same place where I sat previously on.

_"Come, sit down, son. The news I bring to you today are of utmost importance."_

For some moments I can only hear Ravus moving around, probably sitting down opposite to Aldercapt.

_"What kind of news, father?"_

Some papers are spread and shuffled on the table, the sounds of so many documents making my head spin from curiosity.

_"As you know, recently, the bloodline of Lucis has been completely obliterated. As you can see from the files in front of you, these are the official documents stating that as of tomorrow you are to be the new King of the Kingdom of Lucis." _

I'm simply too shocked to give any reaction to his news.

I stare speechlessly at the dark curtain before my eyes, not knowing what to think. Surely this is just a joke.

_"Father, I don't understand...,"_ Ravus sounds genuinely confused.

_"Are you surprised?" _Altercapt laughs out loud, probably grinning at his son in victory._ "These past few weeks I've been very busy to get these papers signed by all nations that are now under our direct command and authority. Solheim, Tenebrae and Accordo, they all do agree that Lucis needs a new King. You, my dear son, have been chosen."_

What?!

Even Tenebrae and Accordo agreed?

That's nonsense! That's a lie!

White spots of light start dancing before my eyes, my disbelief growing immensely the more I get to hear Ravus' father speak further.

_"But how was this even possible to achieve? So soon! These are incredible news, father!"_

Aldercapt sounds absolutely arrogant when he replies, _"I know, my son, I know. My special connections made this possible. You can rest assured that nobody, who once knew about your true whereabouts, is alive today. Now the time has finally come to take your rightful place as a King and to lead Lucis into a New World Order. No one would dare question this decision as officially you are now Lucis' next heir. Since the Crystal of Lucis is in our hands now, you have full reign over their lands. Everything is proceeding smoothly according to our plans."_

_"Thank you, father, for your trust in me. It means a lot to me. I won't disappoint you."_

_"See that you won't. I want that you pack up all your belongings today, Cor shall help you with everything that you need, and then you shall leave tomorrow early in the morning to reach Insomnia before noon. I've taken the liberty to make arrangements for your arrival. We need to get your crowning ceremony immediately out of the way, preferably before something or someone can intervene for whatever unforeseen reasons. You do remember what you have to accomplish once the Crown city of Insomnia is rightfully yours?"_

_"Yes, of course, Father."_

_"Very good. I'm proud of you, my son. You know you are the only one that I can trust with such an important task. Your ruling presence in Lucis will secure us the gifts of their Gods. The Wise Ones have been waiting for many generations to finally reach this victorious culmination of events. They finally can lead us to the new world they have promised to us."_

_"Yes, I understand. I'll do everything in my power to bestow The Wise Ones with the divine knowledge and power of Lucis."_

I'm truly holding my breath right now.

Because, Eos help me, I'm _so damn_ furious!

I'm just one step away from ripping those damn curtains off and to choke this bastard with his own fake documents! I wish to forcefully shove down every single paper inside his ugly mendacious throat!

How dare he manipulate all nations into signing their own power and free will away!

How was Aldercapt even able to achieve such a task?!

My thoughts stumble all over each other to get a grip on myself.

Who exactly is helping his case? What did Aldercapt mean with New World Order?

And who in all seven hells are those Wise Ones of whom he was just talking about?

I hold my agitated breath when Aldercapt seems to be standing up, saying with finality, _"I'll leave the documents in your care, my son, study them carefully. We can make further arrangements when we are getting there tomorrow. Prepare yourself for a stressful day and have an early night. You are going to need all your strength to deal with your new subjects."_

_"Thank you, Father. I will."_

_"Then, I'll bid my goodbyes for now. Cor is waiting outside, I gave him my order to help you pack all of your belongings right away."_

_"I understand. Good Night, Father."_

Blood rushes loudly inside my ears, and because of it I can only hear the part where Ravus lets Cor inside and how he shuts the door close after Aldercapt leaves.

With a sudden, swift shove aside, the heavy, dark curtains are being pushed away and Ravus' pale face appears in front of me, his tense body making room for me to finally step outside.

Cor greets me silently with a nod, staying alert in case Aldercapt might decide to come back.

We wait for a long moment, until we are sure that Aldercapt has truly left, and then Ravus locks his door up and motions for us to sit down.

Nobody says a word while we make ourselves comfortable on the couches around the table. Ravus motions to us with his hand to read the content of the signed documents in front of us, which we immediately do.

It takes us awhile to read through every detail, but the more we read from the papers, the more we understand the gravity of the situation.

"I have a lot of questions." I'm the first to speak out, sighing out loudly and shaking my hands up in the air a few times to get rid of my anger and frustration inside. "I get now that you two are not able to answer everything that I _want_ to know. For now, just do me the favor and tell me only what I _need_ to know. I'm all ears."

Cor and Ravus are looking at each other first, before Cor turns to me to inform me, "Noctis, the people don't know it yet, but a major world war will start soon. After reading the content of these papers, I think the nations have only agreed to Aldercapt's plans, because they fear Niflheim will take complete control over their lands. They were somehow blackmailed into signing these documents."

"Yes, this is what I concluded myself. The question is, how could Aldercapt achieve something like this in such a short amount of time?" I ask confused. "I'm not a genius in political matters, but even someone like me recognizes the amount of power one has to have to achieve a feat like this in a matter of days. Procedures like this usually take up months, if not even years."

Ravus crosses his arms, "I might have an idea how this was possible. But we will talk about it at another time. For now lets just focus and examine all possible options currently at our disposal. Which, I have to admit, are not that many."

I listen to Cor agreeing with Ravus, continuing his theory while sorting the papers back into a neat pile, "Well, with King Regis being dead and his son believed to be dead as well, these nations understand that Lucis is in a dire need to crown a new ruler, even if only temporary, to appease the confusion of the masses and to reconcile the growing panic inside the Kingdom. They want to bring back some resemblance of order for the time being. At the very least, the nations were able to influence the outcome of the election. That's something we should use to our advantage. It's a good thing that they have chosen Ravus to be the next King of Lucis."

Cor then turns to me, adding, "Noctis, with Ravus strategically positioned inside the capital, you still have the chance to take back the crown as soon as the war is over. At least something good will come out of this mess."

"Wait a moment," I place my hand on Cor's shoulder, hoping against hope that what he just said before isn't true. "You mean Niflheim is really able to wage a world wide war soon? How and why? Aldercapt already has control over all lands and the last Crystal is in his permanent possession. This doesn't make any sense to me. There are no further reasons left for him to do so, from a political stance he won't get anything worthwhile out of it."

Ravus steps in, sounding amused when he reveals, "Well, this is the thing. What my father hides from everyone, is that he isn't able to control the Crystal. He will never be able to. But he still uses his current ownership to frighten and to intimidate everybody into submission. Cor and I work on a solution to let everyone know that his threats are only a fluke. The dynamics of the war will change immediately as soon as the nations learn of my father's lies."

Looking at Ravus, I ask with a frown, "Why isn't Aldercapt able to control the Crystal? What's holding him back to use it?"

I watch curiously as Ravus stands up, his feet taking him to the bookshelves once more as he takes the ancient books out that he previously hid from his father. He places all of them on the table, saying, "Because, Noctis, the answers you seek are encrypted inside of these ancient books. The original scrolls were once written by the ancient rulers of Accoris. Only the Deities themselves, or the ones initiated into this knowledge, could ever decrypt their writings. To our fortune, my greedy father hasn't found out about the books true content yet, as he was too busy scheming and refining his political advantage all those past years. If he only had known that the answers he initially sought out were inside his library the entire time. I think it's quite ironic. His actions fit the saying 'to not see the forest for the trees'. That's my father in a shell. For all his brilliance and intelligence, his greed for power had made him blind to his own weaknesses."

Cor snorts, "Good for us, we will use every nook and cranny that we can find to overthrow his blind arrogance."

I don't know why, but right now I start to feel confident again. Looking at Cor and Ravus exchanging smiles of revenge, I'm inclined to trust those two again. What options do I have anyway?

Ravus gets my attention as soon as he places the book, the one with the painting of Chronus, wide open on the table. My heart starts to beat furiously again while Ravus proceeds to explain to Cor the meaning of the Deity depicted in the beautiful picture.

"You mean Chronus had the means to control the inactive Crystal in your father's possession?" Cor asks in a tone that betrays is genuine shock.

"Yes, I think it was him, who through an act of love, was able to bind the power of two divine items together for all eternity. The two divine items were originally intended to bring peace and prosperity to all people of Eos. They were once called the Crystal of Chronos and the Crystal of Aether. With their combined power, the rulers in ancient Accoris were able to manipulate time and space, they were able to literally change the entire material world as they would see fit. Just imagine for a moment what would happen, if my father and The Wise Ones were to gain control over these powerful relics! It's only because the Crystals were specifically bound to soul mates, two spirits who were having the purest of hearts, that their power today can only be awakened and utilized by the same, pure-hearted successors; the soul mates themselves who are reincarnated within this period of time."

Cor huffs hopelessly, "That sounds great and all, but how do we find those soul mates you speak of? There are currently over seven billion people alive on this planet. I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you Ravus, but the chances for us to find them together are thin, let alone in such a short amount of time."

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Ravus reminds Cor, "Did you even listen to one thing that I said to you? You are impossible. I told you two hours ago that Noctis' past life memories revealed to me that he was King Atlas of Accoris."

Cor raises his eyebrow, "Yes, I remember. What does this have to do with everything?"

"Simply everything," is Ravus' dry reply.

I hide my chuckle behind my hand, but I clear my throat quickly when Cor glares at me in irritation.

"Then I told you that Atlas was married to Chronus, they were soul mates," explains Ravus slowly, as if speaking to a child.

"Yes, I remember that too, I'm not an imbecile."

"Well, that's reassuring to know, you had me worried for a minute," is now Ravus' placating answer.

Cor's eyelid twitches, his irritation visibly growing.

I press the knuckles of my hand to my mouth to keep from laughing out loud, pretending to scratch the skin under my nose.

Ravus notices my amusement, winking at me once.

Those two are hilarious to watch.

Focusing on a clueless Cor once again, Ravus adds, "By now you should be able to put two and two together on your own. Atlas and Chronus have been reborn and are alive in this timeline. Atlas' soul lives on within Noctis, one half of the puzzle sits right here next to you. We now only need to know who and where Chronus' reincarnation might be. The best clue for us is to stay at Noctis' side. His heart will reveal in time the identity of his true soul mate, of that I'm sure."

"Fascinating, but this isn't very far off to the original question that I raised in the first place. We come back now full circle, because, as I said to you before, the chances to find those soul mates _together_ are thin," says Cor more forceful than he probably intended. Obviously his patience is waning.

I seem to be the only one in this room to know that Prom is my soul mate and that he's still alive. But I'm reluctant to share this information with either Cor or Ravus. After everything I learned so far, Prom and I are imperative to the Crystals powers. This knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands.

But on the other hand I won't get very far without Cor and Ravus' help.

Father, Prom, what should I do...?

Right then, Ravus takes pity on Cor, ending the amusing discussion with something, that makes me keen-eared instantly.

"Right. There, I agree with you now. Sadly, I wasn't able to locate Noctis' soul mate's whereabouts. So I arrived at two possible outcomes. For one, regardless of my exact calculations in Chronus' astrology chart, he might not have been reborn into this time and era at all. The second possibility might be, Chronus' soul might have fallen victim to a gruesome war as a child, which means he failed his mission. If the latter were the case, it could take ages until his spirit reincarnates on this planet and by then Noctis might not be alive anymore. There were already cases similar to this one documented, where soul mates never met because the time lines they were born into were mismatched from the start."

My heart starts longing strongly once more for Prom as I glance down at the gorgeous face of his past self.

Deciding to take the plunge, I ask, "Ravus, why do you think my soul mate could have died in a war?"

Ravus looks up from his book to meet my eyes. "Ah, I should have mentioned this before. Chronus' astrology chart revealed to me that his soul was reborn as my sibling in this timeline. His reincarnation would have been my younger brother, younge by five years. If he were still alive, he would be your age by now. Also, at why I think that he might have died in the war, because it was my father who waged the gruesome war on the Chronos bloodline at the time when he adopted me. As far as I know, I'm the only survivor, my whole family died on that night."

The Chronos bloodline?

Wait a minute, does this mean that Prom is in truth of royal blood, and in addition to that he's Ravus' younger brother?

I gape openly at Ravus, my heart hammering again in my chest. Never in a billion years would I have imagined Prom's past to be that tightly intertwined with mine, not to mention the fact that he has an older brother now. Prom will be estatic to know he still has family!

"I see," I thread cautiously, needing more answers before I make my final decision to reveal the identity of my soul mate. "Ravus, please answer me another question. When you say you are the only survivor, do you remember what this war was all about? I never heard of the Chronos bloodline before, I couldn't get any kind of insider information about that war. It's like it completely vanished from history. You mentioned that Aldercapt was responsible for killing your entire family, he waged the war for an important reason. What was Aldercapt really after?"

"Yes, I was old enough to remember what happened. Iedolas did _save me_ and I was adopted by him when I was a child because in his eyes one day I will be useful to his personal agenda. You have to know that my family, the Chronos bloodline, were the only people on Eos, privileged by the divine, to use the powers of the Crystal that has been in their possession over many generations which lead back to the time when Accoris still existed. You could say that Chronos, your soul mate, is now my ancestor. When my father invaded our lands, he's been specifically looking for someone who could control the inactive Crystal that he stole from us. He killed everyone who did bear witness to his secret and got rid of everyone who wasn't able to activate the Crystal's powers for him. He erased every single trace that could once bespeak of the Chronos bloodline ever having lived on Eos."

I stare wide-eyed at Ravus. I'm not able to express how sorry I am that something so gruesome happened.

So that's why Prom's family vanished over night without a trace. Aldercapt commited genocide on a whole bloodline world wide, and in addition to that horrifying truth, he managed to erase every single trace in his wake. When I think about it, Aldercapt's powers are beyond my scope...

Cor then speaks out the same that I'm thinking about right now, his face pale, "You know what? Aldercapt isn't able to control the Crystal of Lucis either. Lucis might be next in line to fall to his greed and be erased from ever existing."

"Indeed, that might be a possibility... and it would make sense why he was so eager earlier for me to reach Insomnia tomorrow. The prospect of us changing the upcoming war to our favor grows dim, as of right now the time we have to act has been cut very short," says Ravus with urgency lacing his soft voice. He pinches with his long fingers between his eyes, closing them in dismay. "This gets more and more complicated by the minute and it drives me nuts."

Cor and I share a look of worry.

But then I remember Ravus mentioning a key to activate the other Crystal. "Who else knows about that key which can activate the Crystal? What were your intentions once you find the key that's hidden and locked within the far past?"

Ravus looks at Chronus' picture, thinking for a moment before replying, "Noctis, I'm not sure King Regis knew about the truth surrounding the Crystals when he was still alive. It could be that this knowledge has been deliberately held back from your family for the past generations, maybe by the same people who want to forge a New World Order. If your father would have known about the key, he surely would have already made efforts on his own to search for the other Crystal. As you've never heard of these truths either, my suspicions are being confirmed. There are indeed very strong and evil forces at work who mean to shape this world to their wicked vision under any means necessary. To find the key would of course change everything. The Crystal of Chronos has the power to change the past, the present and the future. If used under the highest moral, ethical and spiritual motives, the Crystal's power would make sure that evil never prevails. Hence, the key would secure us a stable future, with all of us living in complete harmony together."

With my decision now cast in stone, I suddenly ask my father's best friend, "Cor, can I really trust Ravus?"

He frowns at me, probably not understanding what I want to achieve. But when I see the serious expression inside his eyes, I know that I have made the right decision. "Yes, Noctis. You have my word that he is on our side."

I hope with every fiber of my being that I'm doing the right thing when I turn to Ravus and reveal to him, "My father might not have known about the key when he was alive, but he most definitely knows now of its whereabouts. I met and talked to him within of Eos' Astral realms a few times."

Cor gasps out loud, awe and stupor written all over his face while asking me, "You saw him? You were able to reach the spiritual realms?"

"Yes."

Cor's expression morphs into one of regret and longing, but before I can analyze him further, he changes his face back to normal, hiding his emotions from me as he avoids my eyes.

Ravus places the book in his hands away, fully focusing on me now, "So you did successfully travel to the Astral plane. Tell us, what did you learn? Who else did you meet?"

"Actually," I look into Ravus' eyes with intent. "Ravus, before I tell you everything my father has imparted to me, I want to tell you first something else that is related."

He frowns but nods at me in understanding, waiting patiently.

"Ravus, your younger brother is still alive."

At first he looks stupefied, but then his handsome face transforms into a strange expression, a mix of deep sadness and elation. "What did you just say?"

"At least he was alive. Until the very moment when he saved my life back in Duscae before I was brought here to your place. A grenade hit the ground when Niflheim's airships chased me and my friends. Ever since then, your brother simply disappeared. It's because of the evidence that I gathered, no human bones nor any ashes were left after the blazing flames went out, that I think he is still alive. The second evidence is the one you provided earlier, his immortality. My heart recognized his picture when you showed me the painting of his past self. I was aware that he was my soul mate before he completely vanished."

Ravus suddenly reaches for my hands to clasp them tightly, and I feel him trembling when he inquires, "So you met him already? He was by your side the entire time? Who is he?"

Cor butts into the conversation before I can say anything, "So it's either Gladio, Ignis or Prompto. If it's Prompto, I'll see to it personally that he's immediately castrated as soon as he places but a mere toe in your presence again."

Ravus raises a brow at Cor. "Oy, be careful what you wish for. It's my brother you are threatening here."

I smirk slightly back at Cor to confirm to him, "It's Prompto. How did you know?"

Cor gapes at me, his foolish expression unbecoming. "Sometimes I really hate my intuition," he says in defeat.

I have the urge to smirk even wider now.

But then my lips freeze up because Cor huffs in triumph, "Hah, you almost got me!" his face suddenly brightens like a sun, "Forgive me, but I just can't imagine clumsy, little Prompto being a Deity. Come on. That's impossible. Just take a look at Chronos and compare him with Prompto. No, it must be somebody else, am I right? Ignis might fit the role much better. Handsome, intelligent and a virgin. Yes, it must be Ignis. He's the perfect match for you."

A sudden laugh escapes me, hitting his shoulder with my fist to make him stop teasing me already. "Cor, I didn't joke. It's really Prompto, my best friend since childhood. It happened only recently, before the incident with Titan happened, that he and I woke up to our true selves as soul mates. I wonder where he could be now...," I rake my brain for a moment.

Ravus stands up suddenly, rummaging through the old tomes scattered on his table like a possessed man.

Cor and I share a meaningful look, waiting for Ravus to explain himself.

"I know where he is!" He exclaims all of a sudden.

Now it's my turn to tremble when Ravus sits down next to me and I listen to him further explaining his claim as he points to a passage, written in a language I myself can't read.

"Noctis, if my brother is truly alive and he is indeed your true soul mate, then as the reincarnation of Chronus, he must have traveled far back in time."

What?! Prom is in the past?

Heaven, I was right, he is truly alive!

My heart is almost killing me on the spot from anticipation and suspense as I stare at Ravus, expecting him to elaborate his claim.

"Noctis, the ancient book tells us right here, that as a member of the noble House of Chronos, he's been called to ancient Accoris to accept his inheritance."

"Inheritance? What do you mean?" asks Cor perplexed.

"Indeed, his inheritance. The content of this book speaks of the following," Ravus pauses to turn the page, reading to us outloud, "Only through an act of true love or sacrifice can the successor of Chronos come into his inheritance. Under the guidance of his ancestors, the amnesia which has infested his soul while living on the plane of mortals shall be lifted, his vitals purfied, and he will awaken once more to his true self."

Cor and I stare speechlessly at one another, then back at Ravus.

"Do both of you know what this means?" Ravus places the book back on his table, rubbing his face in utter awe. "I feel like an idiot that I didn't think of this before."

"What? You didn't think of what before?" I ask impatiently, eager to know more.

Ravus glances at me, his expression relieved and spirited.

"This means, that now we have a real chance to win the upcoming war! We don't need to look for the key anymore. The key will come back to us!"

I lean forward, searching Ravus' eyes to understand what he just said, asking him, "The key will come to us? How?"

"Noctis, I understand now, finally. The key to activate the Crystal of Chronos wasn't an artifact, nor an item as I had presumed. Your soul mate is the key! Prompto, my younger brother will come back to us soon!"

...

To be continued.


	13. Accoris - Part Two - Prompto POV

Hey dears :),

surprise! Next chapter is ready for your reading pleasure, fufufu.

**ben4kevin**: hah, wait and see ;). Enjoy this chapter!

**LisAlice**: hey dear, just wanted to thank you very, very, very much for your continued and strong support! As soon as I have more time, I'd like to read all your work as well. :)

Have fun reading everyone, please let me know what you think of this story so far! ;)))

Kamuel

...

**Chapter Thirteen - Accoris Part Two - Prompto POV**

...

I think I must have cried myself to sleep ... as exhausted as I've been. It's already dark outside.

My stomach is making some strange growling sounds.

Ah, I am hungry as hell. Ever since Ignis cooked the last time for us I haven't eaten anything.

Now that I have woken up, I turn myself on my back to stare at the ceiling above.

Then I start to remember.

Oh Lord ... what have I done?

My hands come up to rub over my eyes, feeling ashamed of myself.

Because ... my reactions to Atlas were so embarrassing.

To fall asleep in Atlas's warm embrace after ... after I ...

I give some small slaps to my cheeks, feeling my face heat up against the palm of my hands.

Stupid, stupid, stupid me!

Ugh! Seriously!

How can I face Chronus and Atlas after this ... ?

I don't want to know what kind of a bad impression I've left behind.

But, thinking back ... I just couldn't help it. My body couldn't help it.

Because it felt so damn good to be held by Atlas ... to be held by Noct's past self.

At that moment I wanted him with every fiber of my being.

He was whispering sweet nothings into my ear as I cried, he kept caressing me, squeezing me tightly but gently against his strong body ... and then, after a while, the deep longing and sadness transformed into this mad firework of uncontrollable desire in my guts. I was left gasping greedily for air. I really couldn't do anything about those growing sensations as the sudden craving took over me.

Atlas has been right.

No matter when and no matter where we meet, my attraction and deep love for Noct's heart and soul is without limits. It's grown far beyond my current control and understanding.

I'm truly overwhelmed by it all.

The love and connection between us as soulmates ... if one isn't truly prepared for the impact those words really have, then it can become quite frightening - it's -that- intense!

Like a fallen leaf fluttering in the wind, I can only follow the trail of my confused feelings ...

When I felt Atlas's warm and soft cheek pressed against my own, it took everything in my power to hold myself back from turning my head and kiss those enticing lips that were murmuring so many beautiful things to me.

I desired him with the same intensity as I desired Noct in my time.

And I secretly desired to learn what a more mature, more experienced Noct would be like ... to learn what kind of an amazing man he would become one day ...

Atlas had managed to arouse me beyond words, his pure love for me echoing inside and that made my body literally sing and melt back into him ... I've been entirely nude under those blankets and having felt his clothed groin under me, only a thin barrier preventing me from feeling his bare hot skin, to feel his arousal...

Oh sweet hell! I still can't believe how heavily turned on I was because of him! I was like putty under his more mature and calloussed hands. I felt his immense power slowly fusing into my skin and from there on my whole body was on fire. My whole senses heightened! But it was not the wild fire of the sudden and blazing kind - as I always got to experience with the younger Noct.

Atlas seemed to have full reign and full control over his inner powers compared to Noct at home.

The tendrils of his inner force felt more like tamed, full-fledged and mastered flames, ones which started to lick slowly at the insides of my skin, as if they were simmering curiously at first, wanting to get to know me for the first time. But then, as soon as his power recognised me, at once everything got intense as hell!

The most curious thing for me was, that the desire he invoked in me was smouldering, eagerly awaiting for Atlas's instructions, just floating slightly above the surface of my veins and never breaching to reach my life force - such a fierce control speaks of complete mastery over his powers. And those tendrils kept licking softly, caressing tenderly, fueling my lust with small bolts of energy, tormenting me with the growing urge to finally initiate -something-.

And how I hungered for his touch ...

But at the same time I couldn't allow myself to do anything.

In my haze full of lust and love for him, I've tried with all my might to resist Atlas. To avoid coming apart in front of him. In my delirious brain huge alarm bells started ringing to get me back to reality. That all of this was wrong, that I shouldn't allow this, that Atlas is somebody different, that he is already married, that my past self is watching us and that I might hurt him terribly.

I've feared the consequences of my actions that much, that I fought with every living cell I've had inside to hold myself back from reacting to him and to his powers in any way.

But ... his love for me, his warmth, his heady scent surrounding my body, the hot puffs of breath kissing the side of my lips, his flat palms caressing over my chest and brushing maybe not that accidentally over my sensitive nipples ... and he kept pressing me softly against his strong hips, my nude bottom touching (and downright sitting on) his arousal as he was thrusting upwards while he squeezed my hips slightly downwards to his groin ...

The only thing that I could think in that moment was yes, yes, yessss ...

Something inside of me desperately wanted to feel more.

To feel -everything-.

If I wouldn't know it better, I'd think Atlas seduced me on purpose back then ...

And I've been absolutely out of my mind because of it.

I really didn't intend to come apart (in every sense of the word!) then and there.

But I did ...

I truly did.

He didn't even touch me that intimately, but my over sensitive body climaxed on the spot. Without any further imput nor my permission.

Just recalling that moment is beyond embarrassing!

Really.

I rub over my entire face with my palms in distress. Hoping to get rid of the flustered heat on my cheeks there.

How can I ever look into his eyes ever again?!

And by God, I don't want to know what Chronus is thinking of me right now. He surely must be hating me after all this ...

Afterwards I hadn't had the courage at all to look at him. I was just letting the sleep take over my exhausted body and mind.

But now ...

Now I really need to go to apologize to him.

What have I been thinking?

I just don't understand myself anymore.

Atlas and Chronus are fated lovers, they are married to each other.

They love each other obviously very much.

My future self has no room and no right to get involved and to interfere into their intimate lives.

Surely I behaved that way only, because I miss Noct so much ... because everything between us is still so new and fresh for me, insomuch that it's impossible to control my sexual appetite around Noct that early in our intense relationship ... and at my young age I just can't resist the lure of the alien power inside of him.

I can't wait to get home again.

I can't wait to see Noct again.

Turning around while giving a deep sigh, I shove the soft blankets aside and stand up to look for the bathroom. I was prepared to start feeling dizzy and sick from fever, but I realize that my body feels completely healthy already - the fever has entirely gone down and the emotional turmoils have ceased to torment me.

Why? What happened?

Didn't Atlas say that I'm going to need a few more days to familiarize myself to the high levels of life energy around here ...?

Strange ...

With this I take the opportunity to really look at my surroundings, because a few hours ago I've been too emotionally invested and too confused to take everything properly in.

So I switch on the light and gasp as I see the beautiful room getting bathed in all kinds of hues full of warm coloured lights.

This is amazing ...

I walk a few steps around, gaping at all the advanced technological devices lying around. They even have a television screen here - at least I think that this is a TV ...

Wow, that's really strange.

I traveled into the far past, but these rooms and everything inside look the same as it would look in the far future. Besides some ancient looking paintings and relics hanging on the wall, nothing in here looks out of place or even close to -ancient- and mystical.

So Accoris was indeed technologically advanced - as far as I can see from this room it's a few levels further advanced than Insomnia in my future.

It's interesting, that after Accoris has disappeared (the legends say it was destroyed by some kind of cataclysm), people all over the world had had new beginnings. All previous knowledge must have been either scattered around or entirely lost.

I don't really believe myself to be here ...

And still, here I am.

In Accoris.

Somehow, it makes me very excited to find out more about this fabled place. Can't wait actually.

But first on my list is: visiting the bathroom, finding something to dress myself into, then finding Chronus to apologize and then getting some solid food into my starved stomach - everything in that order.

...

"There you are Prompto. I'm glad to meet you here, I was just on my way to your room."

"Ah, Chronus. I'm sorry for leaving without telling anyone, I was looking for you as well and this place is so incredibly huge that I got lost somehow. This beautiful garden is really fascinating, so I sat down for a little bit to enjoy the view."

Chronus is laughing softly. "It's alright. I thought that you would be starving by now, so I let the cooks prepare a late dinner for you."

I watch as two good looking men stand behind him, in front of them are tables with different dishes waiting to be devoured by my hungry stomach and I begin to salivate at the tasty looking and delicious smelling food. "Psst, are all men in Accoris that good looking?" I joke to Chronus as I whisper nearer to his ear. "Oooh, I see, they are your dessert for later, right?"

He is throwing his head back in laughter and I smile innocently at him.

Chronus is shaking his head in amusement and then he is suggesting: "You know what? It's such a beautiful night outside. Further inside of this garden there is a pavilion with several comfortable seats waiting for us. Let's go there."

He is showing me the way and I follow him eagerly.

"Whoa ... this place is amazing! So many beautiful flowers - I've never seen those before." I stop in front of a bush full of glowing and sparkling rose-like flowers, their scent absolutely intoxicating and making me shiver in pleasure as I smell once more on them before resuming my path. Now I remember why I like their scent so much - they remember me of Atlas ...

Chronus is chuckling knowingly at my expression on my face. "So you have already found out, huh? Atlas was wearing that scent today. These flowers are his favorite. But if you want to know, he has many different tastes of scents, but there is only one parfum that he is wearing regulary. But keep it a secret. It's a mix of grapefruit, lemon, orange, lavender, pine, rose and lily of the valley ... he likes his parfums to have a hint of sandalwood and musk. It sounds like a heady mixture, right?" He is grinning knowingly at my gaping face.

I can only nod at him, a blush appearing on my cheeks. It's as if he just listed off to me Atlas best kept secrets and I got to know something that is normally 'forbidden' to know.

As we walk deeper inside the garden, I take my time to admire the well trimmed trees, bushes and hedges. The beauty of the exotic plants and flowers around this place and the clean, well kept surroundings are making me silent for a change.

It's surreal.

It still blows my mind, that I'm currently in Accoris, I guess it must be around twelve thousand years back in time. And all of this looks just like Insomnia would look in around one hundred years or so - I imagine.

"It's breathtakingly beautiful out here." I say full of awe when we reach our goal. There is a pond surrounding the pavilion, translucent stairs are leading up to the bright lighted place. As we walk up the stairs, I watch speechlessly that the roof of the pavilion is transparent as well - the sea of stars from the night sky shining through and enriching this unbelievable experience even more. I wish everyone could be here to see this ... or at least having a camera would be nice to capture all of this ...

"Hn, indeed. I love this place the most. Don't tell Atlas that I told you this, but this is our favorite place to make love ..." Chronus is sending me a teasing grin.

"Wha... ?! Chronus! I swear, you are doing this deliberately, don't you? Why are you doing this to me? I even sought you out to apologize to you for what happened before." I pout at him. "Now I can't eat in peace." Because now I have all kinds of steamy images of Noct and me making out here at this beautiful place ... I try not to imagine my past self making love with Atlas - no, I won't.

"Seriously. Brain. STOP!" I shout at myself, hitting over my head once and not realizing that I've said that outloud.

I hear Chronus laugh into his hand, patting at a soft cushion with his free hand for me to have a seat. Then he says, sounding very amused: "You remind me so much of the times when I met Atlas for the first time. Jumpy, red faced and incredibly excited in his presence. It's in a way reassuring for me, to see that my future self is as smitten with him as I was and still am today."

Who in their right mind WOULDN'T be smitten with Atlas or Noct?!

With an awkward gesture of my hand to thank him for his generosity, I sit myself down opposite of him, releshing the feeling of these very soft and comfortable cushions under me as the personal attendants place and prepare our meal on the round table in front of us.

Because I don't know what to do with myself, I scratch behind my ear a few times, stealing glances at Chronus as he is smiling warmly at me.

I clear my throat and look down at my plate. It's really a strange feeling to talk to yourself somehow ... it helps that he is looking absolutely beautiful, looking like an entirely different person. This makes things less awkward for me.

Looking up once more into his eyes, I say softly: "Chronus ... I'd really like to apologize to you about this afternoon. Honestly, I ... I-"

"Prompto." He is waving with his hand my words away, interrupting me and saving me from stuttering like an idiot. "Everything is alright, you have nothing to apologize for. We will talk after you've eaten. Go on. Help yourself, don't hold back. Eat whatever you would like to eat."

So ... he isn't mad at me?

"Thank you." I don't need to be told twice. As soon as the those good looking men leave us, I follow his advice and help myself on some of the delicious smelling soup first.

Sweet Etro, this soup tastes fantastic!

Chronus is smiling brightly and watches me eat for awhile before he is starting to eat as well.

After I finished my serving, I also take some of the tasting looking cheese, a few slices of bread and several fresh fruits on my plate.

We eat in silence for a while, then Chronus is asking me: "Tell me a bit about Atlas, I mean Noctis, in your future."

I swallow down my food, before answering: "Oh, as far as I got to know about Atlas, you could say Noct is almost the same. Only maybe a bit more wild?" We both chuckle softly at that. Then I say: "Noct is twenty one years old. He obviously didn't get as much experience in his life as Atlas already has gathered here. But ... what I can say for sure is, that he is very loving, very gentle with me and of course he is very handsome. One day he'll become really powerful. His sense of justice is placed on the right side of his heart. And I think ... both of us waking up to us being soul mates, has changed him greatly, in a good way. I love him very, very much. Oh! And he has quite the hilarious sense of humor! I love listening to him whenever he is in the mood to joke around, so I tease him very often because he always looks so happy when we are having fun - it takes off some of the burden of him being a Prince. Because of this burden, in his childhood he was very lonely. Well, he was, until he met me." I wink at Chronus and we laugh again.

"Hmm, so you have known him for such a long time?"

"Yes. We grew up as best friends, very close. Recently, our enemies have invaded the Lucis Kingdom and have stolen our Crystal. His father, King Regis, died on that night ... but Noct met him again in the Astral plane. He told me, that it was Regis who sent to me fabricated dreams to initiate a lovers relationship with his son ... it was because Regis knew that we are soulmates and he nudged us into the right direction. It took us a few days, but then ... his inner force has fully woken up and from there on ... things got a bit hot between us. We still haven't figured out fully how to deal with this strong attraction to each other." I admit to him, and then I bite into a piece of a very sweet watermelon.

Chronus is furrowing his thin eyebrows, asking: "I apologize for the intimate question, you don't have to answer, but ... you two already have had sexual contact? His inner force has only recently woken up fully?"

Not knowing what he is after, I just answer: "Ehm, yes we did. In the beginning, Noct has always talked about the alien power inside of him as if it were his arch enemy. But once he let go of his fears, of having no control over his inner powers and of hurting me unintentionally, he became even more powerful and ... the sex became even better because of it."

When I see Chronus still frowning, I ask him: "Why? Did we ... do something wrong at the wrong time ...?"

"What? Oh, no, no. Do not worry. Actually I think it's really interesting that his powers are fully active only at that late stage of his life. From what you just told me, Noctis hadn't had any proper lessons on how to control and tame his powers much earlier and I wonder why ... ? Why wasn't there a master available in his teens, someone who could have taught him everything he needed to know about his unique powers?"

I support myself on my elbow as I lean the side of my face on my hand, as I ask curiously: "So you think he should have had gained ... sexual experiences when he was a teenager? That there should have been someone teaching him everything much sooner? Hm ... good question. I don't know. Noct has suffered insomnia all his life, he couldn't sleep at night and we didn't know what's been the cause of it. Now that you mention this, his illness might have really come from his inner powers that should have been already fully active - they were still asleep and in turn they were responsible for some kind of blockage, I think. .. hm ... and since Noct and I made love to each other his illness suddenly disappeared. So this might really be related."

I'm getting lost in my own thoughts, but then Chronus calls me back on track, saying to me:

"Prompto, I want to tell you the reason of why you experienced an orgasm this afternoon. Atlas has already experienced and learned everything about his unique inner powers as intimately as possible early in his life. Since he has been seventeen, his powers do not only have the ability to pleasure his bonded mate thoroughly in exchange for etheric energy. His tamed powers can fully heal a human being through sexual energy, among other positive effects - and this is what he did to you earlier today. What I really want to say is, Atlas is a master over his own powers and learned everything about himself at quite the young age - and Noctis is a young adult already but he still hasn't yet. And just so you know, that Atlas has been touching you intimately was of course intentional, it was his decision to give you as much pleasure as possible while your body was healing and infused your body with a lot of magic for you to acclimate to the saturated etheric energy around here. You know, usually he doesn't need to be in the same room to heal somebody - so you were a very special case to him ..." Chronus is smiling softly to reassure me.

My gaping face must have told him of my huge surprise.

So Atlas has truly healed me? He was touching me intentionally? He wanted to give me pleasure? ... and Chronus isn't jealous nor mad at me because of it?

"Chronus, aren't you .. mad at me, that Atlas has touched me that intimately today? Well he didn't really touch me, but his powers .. they ..." I ask awkwardly and scratch the tip of my nose.

"Heh, I knew you would ask me that. But let me answer you with questions of my own: would you be jealous of me, when Noctis would heal me with his powers in the same way? Would you deny your past self a moment of pleasure and healing between him and his soulmate? It isn't as if we are ever able to take possession of Atlas's or Noctis's freewill and soul. If Atlas's decision and desire is to hold you and to endow you with sexual pleasure while he is healing your body and mind, than who am I to intervene? Who are we to decide what's best for others? Because of jealousy? Why should I be jealous of my future self? Because of fear to lose Atlas's love to you? Atlas is in the same sense your soulmate as Noctis is mine - hence, the love between us transcends all mortal hormone driven lust, jealousy and fear. So, why would I deny ourselves this pleasure of being healed and pleasured by Atlas?" Chronus is ending his explanation and again smiling at me gently. "Do you understand?"

I observe the emotions on his face for a few long seconds. And when I see the honest love shining in his eyes for me and for himself, it really dawns on me. "Yes, I think I do now. From a broader, immortal perspective, you and I are one ... as are Atlas and Noct ..."

"That's right. Prompto, you will learn that as soulmates, we are a special case. A case so rare and unorthodox to society, that our gnostic views won't ever fit into any 'normal' societal regulations or norms, no matter at which era we look at. So don't hurt your pretty head over it. I understand your initial reactions of being afraid and ashamed. But true love just -is-. There are no inbetweens. Not many wise men and women have lived to experience and tell about this wisdom. Fear, jealousy and possessiveness are there for mortal beings, for immature and selfish souls, who still need to learn their lessons to hopefully grow up one day. Such self-destructive feelings have no room to exist inside of us, because you and I come from a complete different world where such emotions do become meaningless."

I take a moment to think over what he just said and I guess, I understand from where Chronus is coming from. I smile back at him in understanding, realizing that I still have a lot to learn and I'm relieved that he and I could talk about this so openly.

I feel this strong attraction to Atlas, because as my soulmate I love him as much as Noct. That much I can understand.

Chronus then says: "You know, human beings are strange creatures. I think, you having grown up as if you were fully human, has taught you a lot of useless traditions, beliefs, do's and don't's. But I tell you right here and right now Prompto, that all of those self induced limits and boundaries do not matter at all in your mortal life. There are people out there, who depend on what others say, they can't think for themselves. These kind of people, their young souls, still have a long journey ahead of them to grow strong and wise. All these rules, the regulations, traditions and beliefs are implemented into society by evil people - for humanity to act a certain way, for people to always fear something, for the ordinary people to believe only what the authorities want them to believe. To have fierce control over everyone's freewill and molding society how they see fit. The result is a very conditioned and fabricated way of life. And sadly, because of those restrictions, false beliefs and do's and don't's, sex naturally becomes one of the biggest, most confusing and most harmful activity a human being can experience - if he doesn't get rid of all the emotional and spiritual baggage inside his subconscious mind first. The indoctrinated and programmed society has, since the moment human beings are born, learned to act in a certain way when certain circumstances arise. Rest assured, you are not the first nor the last one to react that way, feeling scared, ashamed and confused at Atlas's and my open behaviour towards sexual pleasure."

Folding my hands into my lap, I look down, somewhat feeling saddened.

After some time of silence, I whisper: "You just have confirmed my thoughts. I have often given a thought about the way we live, especially after I found my soulmate ... after I found Noct. I wish all of us in the future to reach this level of freedom in body and mind as the people of Accoris do."

Then Chronus continues in a soft voice: "Yes, waking up to ones true soulmate can change your perspective on things drastically. You start to look at the world from a broader point of view. But back to the problem at hand regarding Noctis. In Accoris there are many skilled masters, who are capable of helping others heal and attain mastery over their own etheric energy flow. I would suggest for Noctis and yourself to look for further information on how to fully master his powers first. It depends on you as his partner how fast he is going to learn."

"Thank you, we will."

"What I advice I can give you, puberty can become very harmful if a teenager doesn't grow up with the right advice and knowledge about himself and others. And at example, to grow up sexually healthy both in mind and body, preferably in a sexually healthy environment, sexuality is the first topic every teenager in Accoris needs to properly and seriously study. For all of us living here this is a given. The various life energy currents inside of our bodies need to flow freely, without any emotional blockages and hindrances, for us to stay healthy and for us to live a long and satisfied life with our chosen partners. As history has taught us, sexual energy has always been the most dangerous energy inside of us, the most potent one for self-destruction and for harming others for life - if it's not practiced in the right and moral way from the very beginning. So make sure to study well and implement your knowledge with care and wisdom."

"I see ..." I lean backwards to look up at the stars above. "I understand what you just told me. I read about something similar when I was younger, these topics were mentioned and written inside an old book, the content was actually about sexual magic. At first I was typically curious about the content, I was sixteen at that time, but I ended up reading the whole book and I was quite amazed in the end about all the things we don't get to learn as we grow up. I always knew that there is much more to sexuality than meets the eye. This knowledge should be available for everyone. It's important."

"I do agree. Tell me Prompto, how is sexuality perceived in the future where you come from?" Chronus is crossing his arms and looking at me with a very serious face.

While I myself are blushing to the roots of my hair, I answer: "Oh, ehm, I'm not an expert at this, but from what I've seen and heard it's definitely different than the behaviour towards sex here. At least compared to what you have told me so far. Talking about sex in general is very awkward for the most of us. While advanced in technology and knowledge, the people of the Kingdom of Lucis are mostly shy and reserved. They frown upon others if they behave in a different way. Teenagers are growing up and learn about sexuality by trial and error. In Insomnia the only advice they get are oftentimes either bad ones from their friends or really bad ones from the media around them. Seldom do they get advice from their parents, and when they do, then it's mostly of the same bad kind because their parents grew up the same way. Young teens mostly get the wrong impressions about themselves early in life and because of false expectations their first times are either painful or boring or mind-blowing, depending on the experience of their first partners. At example, inbetween the young people today, in my time, they think that having sex as often as possible is the most healthy and normal for them. Having sex with as many partners as possible and losing ones virginity as soon as possible is cool and honorable - all of this turned out in the end to be some stupid game about measuring ones sexual prowess on each ones accumulated amount of bed partners. I heard a lot of guys joke and make fun about their experiences. For them sex is either a game or just an opportunity to get some selfish pleasure. For them sex is reduced to hormones and simple lust - without taking responsibility, without investing serious feelings, without respect to their bed partners. Eeach session goes by without any profound meaning. You could say it's become like a drug that is slowly but surely dragging them down as the years go by. They live their lives chasing after even more and even better, and faster and higher selfish pleasures - night after night, party after party, life after life. Only to never come to the final realisation that the thirst they feel inside isn't quenchable by having as much sex with as many different people as possible. This thirst of experiencing pleasure with a partner comes from yearning for the 'right one', craving for the reuinification with their true soulmate."

I make a short break to drink a bit of my fruit juice as Chronus has a disappointed expression on his face, looking sad.

"Chronus, as far as I understand, many people living in my time are spiritually immature, or deeply asleep as Noctis said once to me. These people grow up in their teens either very lonely, socially awkward, some grow up addicted to watching other people having sex and because of the latter they aren't able to lead a healthy sexual relationship with others later in life. Well, there are as many different reasons, of why teenagers never get to learn to lead a sexually healthy life, as there are snow flakes falling on the ground in winter. I can't pin down this matter on only a few points. So .. even most mature and adult people in my future just don't know how a sexually healthy life actually should be like - nor what gathering the right knowledge about it exactly entails. So it's only natural, that they would react so strongly against something so open and meaningful. If not for my knowledge, I would have reacted exactly the same."

With a heavy sigh, Chronus is standing up, walking a few steps further away to look at the pond.

I give a sigh as well, take a last piece of ananas and join him, watching some cute duck chicks with their mother swimming very close to us while I eat.

When I see that Chronus seems to be really sad, I walk back to the table to steal a bit of bread and then stand beside him once more to feed to the ducks some crumbs.

And then I get a small smile out of him and I smile back, nudging him with my shoulder and giving him a bit of bread to feed the cute chicks as well.

"You know ..." He starts speaking after a while. "You and I, our spirit, secretly loves the Earth. We love humanity, love the animals and love all nature around us. We are old souls, Prompto. We shouldn't be here - they say. But I just can't keep on watching as humanity makes the same mistakes over and over again. So I came here to help as much as I can ... but ... seeing you here at my side, seeing that -I- have started the reincarnation-process all over again that was causing for you to fall deeply into amnesia and forget about your true self and destiny ... this can only mean that I have failed."

He is looking at a point somewhere far away into the distance and I get closer to him to put my arm around his shoulders to comfort him.

"Prompto, soon, something terrible will happen to the Kingdom of Accoris. As the 'Father of Time' I am well aware of the upcoming cataclysm that will set humanity back to start all over. And it saddens me, that I'm not wise enough, not powerful enough yet to lead humanity home."

With shimmering tears inside his eyes, Chronus turns to me and is stroking gently over my head. "This is why you are here, Prompto. Atlas and I are going to teach you for the next few months all there is to know. So that you can return to the future armed with strength, wisdom and knowledge. And together with Noctis by your side you shall succeed in creating a new Accoris - the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth."

...

to be continued.


	14. Found - Noctis POV

Hey everyone,

phew, this chapter took quite a long while to finish. Personal matters took most of my freetime away and I had to postpone writing for awhile. Thank you for being patient with me :).

I won't say anything about this chapter. I think reading everything yourself will tell you everything you need to know, fufu. I can only hope that you like this chapter as much as I do.

Only so much: for Noct there are many changes to come ...

Enjoy!

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen - Found - Noctis POV**

**...**

Aah, such wonderful bliss.

I'm surrounded by beautiful roses and I can smell their sweet fragrance all around me, it's making me smile wide and I feel my body relax.

It's a wonderful day to be alive.

Have I already mentioned the roses? Their smell is really intoxicating.

I feel great.

Today is a good day.

Everything smells great...

Yes.

I do not feel as if I am about to puke all over my shoes any moment.

Oh damn, that was a negative thought. Now I have to start over again.

Okay... just in case you are wondering what the hell I am doing right now - I practice the art of positive thinking.

You read that one right.

There is this saying in Lucis, that to think positive, to visualize your future as optimistically as possible, is to draw that future you envision closer to the present.

And you know what? It's a lie.

I already did this for the past two hours and it didn't work.

Or, I might have been doing this completely wrong. I don't know. Nothing has changed so far.

I'm still sitting here beside Ravus, forced to enjoy this hellish ride as an illegal passenger of one of the best steered airships that I've ever had the pleasure to come across to (somebody please instant-fire this suicidal idiot of a pilot!).

Why am I even surprised? Niflheim isn't famous for being surrounded by a deep, all-encompassing red colored fog for nothing. Even the native people living here can't really foresee how the dangerous storms around the mountains behave, evoked and induced by too much magiteck-smog. Ravus told me, that the storms are a remainder of Niflheim's curse, for having once used their very last resources of magical power on evil experiments - fusing human consciousness with artificial intelligence, by using a dangerous self-aware technology in their guns and weapons that has helped their nation to conquer the whole world today.

The ancient influence their Archean named Bahamut has over these lands is clearly tangible. The air is impregnated with copper remnants of their now complete depleted Crystal, coloring the surroundings in these mountains that function as a barrier in a deep red, forever hiding the sun, making it harder to detect or to locate this place from the outside of its borders.

Especially today, to me it almost seems as if Bahamut is deeply aggravated by something. For the storms to be that strong this morning I wonder what happened to the Archean to be that angry ...

My body gives a shudder, feeling very uncomfortable in my own skin as we make our way to Lucis. There is something in the air today... my guts can't tell exactly what it is, but there is a change coming.

Hopefully we can get ourselves alive, intact and in one piece to the Insomnia palace.

Anyway, I'm about to get angry as well. I diligently start to count backwards the hours, minutes and seconds in order to somehow estimate the entire unbearable long duration of our terrific journey through these Edenic lands.

So back to positive thinking.

Birds are chirping, a warm breeze is caressing my face, the sunlight is beaming brightly from above and warming up my skin, nature is calling...

Nature is indeed calling just as my stomach starts making some really strange sounds. I fight with all I have to not lose my breakfast sideways on Cor's newspaper. Do they even have toilets on this magnificent flying ship?!

Indeed, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I suffer from severe motion sickness - curiously happens to me only once I'm inside an airship (especially badly steered ones like this one).

Teleporting myself around? No problem. Check.

Sitting in the back of cars and trains? No problem. Check again.

Traveling on boats or ships? No clue, haven't experienced that one yet. Obviously back in Lucis we didn't have any seas to overcome.

But being forced to travel inside airships? Heaven forbid, I literally hate those with a severe passion.

Just then the turbulence inside this airship grow even stronger and I curse inwardly, trying to steady myself on something solid. The nearest object beside me makes me frown just when my hand is shooting out to grasp Ravus' firm thigh forcefully on my left side. Beside a small twitch of his muscles under the palm of my hand, he gives no outward indication of my frightfully strong grip on his leg - and I'm sure that I must be hurting him by now, the airship doing some crazy loops at this moment to dodge whatever is out there.

I don't need to look into a mirror to see my pale and puke-green complexion on my appalled face. My eyes squeeze themselves tightly shut all on their own, as if this could prevent me from getting violently sick.

God in Heaven. If you can hear me, please stop this.

I really don't feel good right now.

A whisper reaches me from the right side. "Are you alright?"

No. No, I'm not alright.

I'm actually terrified.

The feeling of throwing up any minute multiplying itself with every slight turn of this damnable airship.

I'm going to have nightmares and constipation for weeks after this hellish ride.

I don't dare to move even one muscle of mine, controlling my breathing to keep calm, then I feel Cor patting me on my back, while reading today's news and throwing worrying glances at me periodically. How he is able to read so calmly, while this airship is doing all those crazy stunts in the air, is a complete mystery to me.

A further reason of why I'm not daring to move, is because we are surrounded by a bunch of Niflheim's human and android troops. They are escorting their new Highness of Lucis to reach Insomnia safely.

I feel so special to finally get some serious experience of what it's like to be a part of Niflheim's army.

Had I mentioned that this is the best day of my life?

And had I mentioned roses before? Have I? Let me explain why I desperately wish for the sweet fragrance of roses.

Because of my hard earned, highly popular status in Niflheim, I've been given the privilege to find myself inside this very stifling, very uncomfortable and complete disgusting smelling piece of old crappy armor.

Considering that I had two limiting options for my safe transportation, options that were kindly given to me by Ravus this morning (only five minutes before departing), I shouldn't complain. It's been either hiding myself inside a cramped luggage, but after having almost suffocated myself in advance on my hyperventilating fright of my brain cells probably dying inside that tight space from lack of oxygen and simultaneously imagining how my precious limbs would fall off in their feeble attempt to summon their spectacular nonexistent and professional-looking contortion abilities, I definitely needed to hear my second option.

Here is the thing. I previously thought the alternative to be an absolute brilliant idea: to cover myself from head to toe inside this far superior and stupendous piece of crappy and stinky armor. There. Genius, right? What a brilliant idea we've all had. From the outside I look like an innocent Niflheim soldier on duty, just guarding Ravus and his entourage on our trip to Insomnia - the only difference this time: I'm about to suffocate myself while inhaling all of these terrible all-pervasive pestilential vapors fuming into my nose. I don't even dare to wander off to those nightmarish thoughts, of people dying in here and probably having been left to rot inside for whole centuries.

So, which option did my humble and noble self choose this morning?

If you haven't figured this one out yet, I'll give you three guesses.

Let's just leave it at that, I deeply regret my decision by now. The cramped luggage would have smelled neutral the very least - a high contrast to what I have to endure now. Had I only known beforehand ...

I blame my tender nose for not being able to sustain such a revolting smell. How those knights in their shiny polished armor in front of me are able to even lift their guns at their enemies at all is remarkable. I should file away this knowledge for later use - Niflheim's human soldiers are completely immune to rotting stench.

As I scrunch up my nose, in an attempt to somehow evade the whiff-ey particles of information so that my nose can't be sending them straight to my sentient brain, I try to ignore the fatal, emetic inducing odors this overused armor is giving off. It honestly reeks as if the previous owners have never heard of soap before. I fear the acrid fumes are that heavily clingy, insomuch they permeate my sensitive skin right as I start to sweat inside.

My body shivers in revulsion.

As if the motion sickness alone isn't enough for today.

This suit of armor is the devil himself!

How desperate I am to finally get out of this crappy thing! My hallucinating brain is sending me ongoing emergency signals that I'll never be able to get rid of this putrid smell, no matter how often I'll wash myself. The strong odors already invading my high-strung mucous membranes and making themselves quite at home there without my spoiled nostrils permission. This definitely won't leave my inner nostrils walls for a long, long time - and I don't even need Ignis' foretelling skills for me to know that for sure.

I'm not joking, I really stink like a dirty skunk.

I imagine Prom never wanting to touch me ever again. Not in this foul reeking state of mine.

A comical tableau appears unbidden before my inner eyes. A prophetic vision. Prom and I are smiling brightly, emotional tears gracing our glimmering eyes as the sunset is highlighting the fragile complexion of our faces. And we run, and run towards each other, and jump on a field full of roses to finally, finally reach another (like it always happens in those old cheesy romantic movies). But then, I can hear in the distance his feet suddenly screeching fiercely in halt. With utmost fear painted inside my eyeballs I can already see the vegetation beneath his feet to be damaged beyond repair. And this means only one thing - that he is suddenly holding his nose in utter disgust and refusing to go any further! All the while my heart beats painfully, full of misery and longing, for his passionate embrace. But. There are approximately fifty meters forming a huge invincible distance between us, the sudden purple fumes of the absolutely atrocious odor that my skin is giving off becomes suddenly visible and is building an impenetrable wall between us! It's separating Prom and me until the day I die and am going to leave this mortal stinking body behind.

Or, without over-dramatizing my current situation, at least until I washed myself with the most potent and best smelling soap in existence.

I shake myself from the terrible fiction that my mind just produced.

That was a truly horrible vision.

But it did manage to distract me for awhile.

My stomach is reminding me that I don't feel well.

When will we finally arrive in Lucis?

I pray to the Heavens to bestow upon my sensitive nostrils (and stomach) strength and endurance for the rest of our trip.

Meanwhile I busy myself with counting numbers backwards, forward and backwards again - it's the only thing that works against the motion sickness after all.

...in hopes that the circus around me comes to a sudden end, hopefully through some miraculous circumstances that are interfering with the upcoming depressing events of today.

**...**

"Aaargh! Did you see that?! What was that?"

"It's Bahamut!"

"Bahamut, the Archean?! Are you sure?"

"That can't be right. What is he doing out here? Shouldn't he be asleep?"

The airship suddenly slows down, halting and hovering in the air. The hired staff around us start to talk louder among themselves, the growing fear and panic on their faces clearly visible.

"Why do we stop? What's going on?"

"Captain, the Archean Bahamut is out there! He blocks our path, sir. Your orders, sir?"

The captain of the airship is jumps up from his seat to run towards the windows to catch a better look of what's happening outside.

"He's not only blocking the path. He is preparing himself to attack the airship as we speak!"

Cor, Ravus and I look at each other in shock.

Never in a million years would we have expected the ancient Archean to appear today.

Well, it seems as if my prayers have miraculously been answered - but in a complete different way as I've had initially anticipated. My positive thinking might have worked out - but I wouldn't call this exactly a positive future that is now staring us in the face. These are some damn fine thorny roses out there, bringing only the sweet fragrance of death with them.

The Archean Bahamut is rumored to be the most dangerous and strongest entity of them all. Add to that him being angry for whatever reason at us and we already have the perfect combination for a disaster happening.

Why did he wake up from his long slumber?

"Attack incoming! Rise the protective shields! Everybody brace for impact!"

Not one second after, a huge flare of energy is hitting the surface of the airship and the explosion outside and the wild tremors inside indicate that the protective shields have been utterly destroyed with only one blow.

It's a wonder we are still alive after such a strong blast.

As I look around me in growing fear, Ravus stands up to give his order to land. "Bring us down immediately. At this stage we have no choice but to relent if we don't want to be annihilated on the spot."

"Yes, my Lord."

I stand up as well, whispering furiously at Ravus, "What do you hope to achieve? Getting a seat to chitchat with Bahamut while drinking your damn tea? Yeah, like this will go well."

"In fact, this is exactly what I'll be doing," is his smooth answer.

Rolling my eyes at his calm demeanor I watch Cor and him exchanging some meaningful glances, and again, I hate to be the only one to be left uninitiated into each one of their damn secrets! I really need to know what truly is going on, damn it! Yesterday evening our talks were cut short by the personal assistants that Aldercapt had sent to Ravus' rooms to help out with the moving boxes - and I didn't get to hear the rest of their plans because I needed to get into hiding for the entire night afterwards.

Now, without any of my powers recovered - an aftereffect from whatever Ravus and Cor have done to me in between those past few weeks, there is no way in hell that I could aid them in this fight without getting myself killed in the process.

And this thought is utterly frightening as it is frustrating.

For the first time in my life I am really aware of the fact, that I'm indeed mortal. Being completely powerless sucks big time.

I hope Ravus and Cor have some sort of tactical advantage over the Archean, else I foresee all of us meeting my father in the Astral realms sooner rather than later.

"Second attack incoming! Brace yourselves for another impact!"

Shit.

Bahamut isn't playing around!

We don't even get enough time to get ourselves down on the floor or to hold on to something, because this time Bahamut's angry assault on our airship is literally tearing the entire vehicle apart.

The following events happen to me in a furious blur.

Ravus gets hit by a blasted chunk of hot metal, his body knocking painfully against the wall from its force and I watch helplessly how he is immediately passing out after.

Just when I crawl my body in his direction, Cor shoves me desperately away from the airship, pushing me down right through an open hole from where the airship has just been blasted apart, the thin air and wind making it hard for me to breathe as my leather gloved hands are holding tightly on some damaged metal parts.

I realize a second too late that I can't take a hold of the edge properly, the leather fabric slippery with machine oil, not being able to reach to Cor's hands to pull him with me and for a second or two I can only watch various unreadable expressions playing over his mature face. His usual stoical looking eyes are now full with pain and regret as as my own body is mercilessly being pulled down by gravitation, the old armor I'm clad into only assisting in adding even more weight.

And just then the rest of the airship is blowing up in blazing pieces of hot metal before my very eyes.

"NO! Cor! Ravus! NO! I can't lose you two as well! Not now! Please!"

My helmet comes off from my head and I have trouble breathing now that I did lose my only protection against the thin air and smoke.

Damn it all to hell!

Why is all of this happening to the people that I care about?! Why is all of this happening to me?

Is this some sort of punishment?!

Is there somebody out there enjoying the pain and loss that we go through?!

I feel angry tears appearing and blurry my vision, my shaking limbs falling further and further down towards the mountains, all the while willing myself to warp somewhere on a safe place.

But the alien power inside me doesn't answer to my desperate calls.

The Phantom Swords do not react to my will either.

What in the world happened to me?

Why can't I even _feel_ my inner powers anymore?

How did Cor and Ravus expect me to protect myself when I can't fucking _use_ any of my magical abilities?!

With a sharp cry of despair I try to call whatever power that is left inside of me.

Ramuh!

Titan!

But the only thing that I get in return is absolute silence.

I swallow dryly.

So... that's it?

As I feel myself inevitably falling further downwards, as if in slow motion, I look up at the burning parts of the airship above me as the distance between us is growing, knowing my heavy body to hit the ground inevitably in less than a minute, I suddenly find myself strangely disappointed.

In a bizarre kind of way I always thought that the day I reach my own demise would happen in a more meaningful manner. I thought that I would die in a fierce battle of sorts, surrounded by my most precious friends and family as I lead them to victory. Naively thinking that my death would change the world for the better...

There is still so much left to do.

So much in this world needs to change...

I thought I would be strong enough to make this change happen.

I should have found out the truth about everything much sooner... my father would still be alive.

I should have been more alert all this time, Ignis had been right.

I shouldn't have arrogantly believed that I'm strong enough to take on the whole world with my inexperienced fighting skills and should have taken my training with Gladio more seriously.

The angry tears at myself spill out in hot trails over my cold cheeks and I punch at my armored chest in a hollow motion, knowing that it's already too late for me to change anything about myself.

If only I would have been stronger and wiser, all of this could have been prevented from the very beginning!

Prompto would still be alive and still by my side...

Everyone would still be protected by the Crystal.

I'm so sorry Prom...

I'm truly sorry everyone.

I've failed all of you...

More angry tears are spilling over my face and I welcome the pain of loss, the pain of defeat.

All of a sudden I feel an inhuman presence beside me.

I take a defeated glance at my left, not surprised at seeing Bahamut flying closer to me.

But I'm surprised at seeing that he looks exactly like all those ancient paintings I once saw as a child in one of those ancient books. He looks like I would imagine a beautiful fallen angel to be, his body having a pale human-like form and an almost glowing complexion, huge black wings making him look more intimidating as they are flapping up and down to keep him constantly in the air.

And I'm even more surprised by what says to me in my mind as he fixes his intense but cold dark eyes at me, "I know who you are. I didn't want any of this to happen. But I had no choice..."

Before I can ask who made him do this, I can feel his own pain and furious anger just as he summons another flare of energy in between his pale hands.

I brace myself, preparing for my last intakes of breath.

At least I prefer this kind of death over to being squashed painfully like a mashed potato on the unforgiving ground.

Eos... I'm going to miss everyone.

I'm really going to miss Prom...

As I close my eyes, I feel myself smiling a bittersweet smile at imagining his own smiling face before me.

I wish to see him one last time before I leave this world. Because I know that it will take a long time again until I'm allowed to meet my soulmate in another life.

I promise next time I'll be better prepared to protect the both of us.

To protect everyone.

I won't make the same mistakes twice.

Prom, if there is a way that my thoughts can reach you... I love you. Sincerely. Madly.

I recall all the precious memories that I have of him, wanting to keep them close to my heart even in the afterlife.

When I start to feel the impact of Bahamut's flare attack, the heat of it reaching the armor and beginning to melt the measly metal off from my body I'm about to scream in pain, the blazing heat penetrating my clothes, but suddenly nothing happens.

Time seems to stop.

Ah, this must be the famous effect of dying.

I heard of people saying that this is the moment where your entire life is flashing before your inner eyes.

"Noct!"

Well, isn't this funny?

Even Prom's voice seems to be realistic.

"Noct, we need to get you out of here!"

I give a short cynic laugh.

Yes, Death loves to wreak havoc with my senses, because it's not possible for Prom to call out my name by now.

"Noct! Seriously, get a grip of yourself!"

I feel somebody furiously shaking me.

Shaking me as in truly touching my shoulders and really _shaking_ me.

"Answer me! Noct!"

With a loud gasp I quickly open my eyes, eagerly searching out the source of the voice. Not daring to believe.

And I suddenly feel myself going into shock.

Not being able to process, nor being able to comprehend for one second the incredible sight that greets me.

Familiar, almost glowing bright blue eyes are staring with worry back at me. His fair colored hair having grown slightly longer, the more mature lines on his face telling me that he has seen and experienced a lot in the time we've been separated.

My hand shakes like crazy as I slowly reach up to touch the side of his breathtaking looking face.

"Prom... is it really you?" I whisper with awe, my voice trembling as my emotions threaten to choke me up. "I am not dead, am I?"

He smiles fondly while his warm hand strokes over the cold trails of my tears. "Idiot," he says lovingly, "of course it's me. Sorry for being late. I'm glad I made it in time."

Only when he takes a look around us do I follow his gaze and gasp again when I realize that time has truly stopped, it wasn't my imagination!

Bahamut is frozen in place, in the same position as before, his eyes fixed strangely in a sad way in my direction, the mass of energy shooting out from his hands just reaching my armor and having stopped short before it could burn my skin off from the entire left side of my body.

"How...?" I'm not able to produce an entire sentence. The whole situation completely overwhelming my mind, still unable to understand that Prom is really here, holding me, saving me.

"Come. Let's get away from here. Time will unfreeze itself soon." He takes a hold of my hand and I watch in a strange fascination how we are running down, with stepping motions upon thin air, as if there were solid stairs under our feet instead.

As I watch the muscles of Prom's back rippling, and his lean but strong legs moving before my very eyes, a sight I didn't believe to see in this current life anymore, my emotions run all rampant inside - feeling relieved, excited, elated and confused as hell.

And as if reading my mind he turns his face to look into my eyes, saying to me breathlessly as we continue to run forward, "We'll talk later. First we need to find a place to hide ourselves in."

I can only nod in answer. Fearing, that if I open my mouth to say something, Prom might disappear. That _they_ will take him away from me again.

He squeezes my hand firmly, intuiting that I need every slight confirmation that he is _real_. That all of this is really happening. That I just got a second chance at life and a chance to make up for my own incredibly stupid mistakes, with Prom by my side.

When we finally reach the ground, Prom guides me to a hidden place that seems to be the only spot around the entire mountain range where flowers still bloom. "Hurry, we need to get inside."

I can hear sounds of a waterfall somewhere near as he pulls on my hand to follow after him, being careful of my head as we get deeper into the cave. It's a small looking cave that quickly proves to be much wider on the inside.

"From where do you know this place?" I can't help but ask curiously.

He glances sideways at me, grinning boyishly, "I have been here before."

"Hah?! Really? When?" I don't remember him ever being in Niflheim before, and most certainly not around these forsaken mountains.

With a frown on my face I notice that he doesn't reply to my question, but I'm patient and so we walk further into the deepest parts of the cave, the walls suddenly being illuminated by a beautiful, bright light, both of us walking until we reach the end to an open fireplace in the middle of it. This isn't a natural fireplace... it's a foreign art of magic, and said magical signature is tied to Prom.

Well, here I have another question stacked and added to my never ending list of questions. But it's not hopeless. I know that everything will get answered once I join my father in the Astral realms. Yeah, that thought is definitely reassuring.

"Hmmmh, that's great. Everything still looks the same and hopefully everything is still here." Prom lets go of my hand with a smile, stepping forward to lift up and set several rocks aside, and to my surprise there seems to be a hidden chamber or room underneath. He reveals and unlocking a wooden door, looking up to me while saying, "Follow me, this will be our secret haven for the next few days, maybe even weeks, until everything calms down outside and we are ready to leave."

What he just said suddenly reminds me of this crappy armor, or at least at the damaged pieces that managed themselves to miraculously cling on some injured parts of my body. Reminding me of how much I stink actually. I guess, besides everything that happened to me so far, that I still feel well enough emotionally if I am already able to worry about something so mundane as wanting to smell good when I'm stuck in a tight place with Prom alone.

He notices my hesitation, asking with a frown, "What's wrong?"

"I..." I pause to look down on my dirty clothes, my lips puckering up in disgust. "I reek. I need to clean and wash myself first and change into fresh clothes..."

I'm about to get serious seizures when I realize that there are no fresh, _clean_ clothes for me to change into.

Prom starts to laugh heartily.

My gaze focuses completely amazed on my soulmate gorgeous face, hearing and seeing him laugh again seems so foreign suddenly. The sounds of his soft laughter like balm for my soul...

I drink in his gorgeous presence, still getting used to his longer hair... but not because it doesn't fit him. On the contrary. It makes him even more attractive and in this situation it's volatile for me to desire him even more than I did before...

We don't have time for this now.

His eyes twinkle in good humor when I hear him teasing me, "Heaven, I missed you so damn much. Noct, only you would be so concerned about your personal hygiene in a situation like this."

"Well, excuse me, I almost died out there, and now that I find myself alive after all, I just _need _to feel alive. That means I need to be clean first." I shrug uncomfortably at my somewhat petty excuse, shuffling my feet on the ground and kicking a small rock to the side, hoping that he won't be able to guess my real fear; him never wanting to be in my personal space again because of the horrible stench that surrounds me. I know that I behave like a spoiled brat, but I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink beside him in this bad reeking condition of mine.

I catch a triumphant looking small smile on his lips before he straightens his gorgeous face back into a serious expression. "Wait a bit, I'll get you some new clothes. Let's see, where did I place them again?" He murmurs to himself while going down the ladder, his blonde hair slowly disappearing the further he reaches the level underneath me.

So I sit down on the ground, looking around me while Prom is rummaging downstairs. My mind starts to wander.

This Prom is different compared to the one that did leave me a few weeks ago.

Prom said he was here, inside this cave in the middle of Niflheim's territory.

How? Why?

Ravus mentioned that Prom has been transported far back into the past. What did Prom do there? What kind of inheritance did he retrieve? What happened to him that changed him so much? For others it might seem not to be a lot, but I'm his boyfriend, I'm his soulmate, so naturally I now tend to notice every single detail that changed him.

When I think about it, all of a sudden he is able to wield a foreign signature of magic. I glance at the blazing fireplace in front of me, its signature completely different from the Crystal of Lucis.

Prom is suddenly able to control the flow of time, I guess. Seeing how he was able to stop not only Bahamut, but he did freeze up the whole time-sphere around us, the air stood completely still. I'm sure that he broke some serious rules with it and I hope it doesn't have any serious consequences... I still can't get over the fact that he saved my life mere minutes ago.

And then I remember the look of his body now... while he still looks lean and slender overall, I did catch some serious work done on his muscles (as a lover, how could I not notice?). Does that mean that he got some form of proper training wherever he was? In addition to that I took notice that he didn't have his usual guns by his side, whatever happened to his favorite battle companions?

My heart starts to flutter and pound holes into my chest when I think back at how incredible he looks now. His entire presence is breathtaking, more charming and much more powerful. I have no clue, because I didn't spent enough time yet around him to notice more different things about him, but what else has changed?

Oh, and I noticed of course that his face matured quite a bit. Maturity and experience suits him well... I wonder how much time has passed for him to grow that much?

The footsteps leading up the ladder calls my attention back to the present. I turn my head in his direction just when he stumbles back up the last few steps. The bright smile he aims at me is radiant and glowing.

Gods... this is such a moment where I feel like I've fallen all over again in love with him.

I feel blessed, grateful, humble. Genuinely happy that I'm allowed to have my soulmate by my side again.

Prom realizes that I think about him right now, because his smile and gaze turns very fond and he starts to walk slowly towards me with the new clothes held firmly inside his arms.

"Outside at the back of this cave there is a waterfall, I'm sure you have heard the water lap against these walls already. Don't worry about being seen, I've already taken care of our location the last time I've been here. Nobody will be able to locate us as long as we don't stray too far away from the vegetation around us. Further away I placed a protective barrier to hide us safely."

When I hear him reveal to me another proof of his new powers, I become focused and serious about our situation. "Prom, I'm sure you have a lot to share with me," I say to him with intent. "I need answers, and I know that you can help me out with that."

**...**

* * *

To be continued.


	15. Home - Prompto POV

Hey dears,

next chapter up :). I'm sure you couldn't wait to read what happens next, so I wrote diligently the whole Sunday through on this chapter to make you all happy ^_^Y. I hope you like it! I had certainly a lot of fun writing it!

Prompto has changed ... a lot, haha. But I think I managed to write him still in character, what do you think?

**ben4kevin:** thanks, it was finally time for the Reunion to happen ;)))

**Lisa:** Thank you very much, my dear :)! Glad to hear from you! Don't worry, next chapter will be focused on Bahamut, so I hope everyone will understand his true motivations. And YESSS! Prompto has longer hair! Imagine his older design only two years older :). And of course I did it only for you my dear, you know I love it to make you blush and faint, haha ;).

Enjoy this chapter everyone!

**WARNING:** m/m lime (sexual situation at the end of the chapter happening), mature readers only!

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen - Home - Prompto POV**

...

I'm back home, for good.

Back to Noct.

Back to my own timeline. At last.

How many nights spent in loneliness have I longed for this day to finally come?

Feels like an eternity to me since that moment when I've been saved by my past self and arriving at ancient Accoris ...

How many months, or even years, have passed for me since I last saw Noct, since I last saw everyone? If my guesses are right, almost two years have gone by since then.

The shattering noise of glas makes me jump in fright, bringing me back to reality. I crouch down with a soft laugh at myself, to gather up the broken bits of glass and to throw them away. It seems, the only thing that hasn't changed, is me still being a clumsy fellow.

Thank Etro for Atlas and Chronus, bless those two. Without their insights and advice at a time where my hectic state of mind ruled my actions, a few days before my departure I wouldn't have given such a proper thought about setting up this place with enough clean water, food, clothes and space for a warm and cozy shelter - among other important things that Noct and I would need out here to survive a few weeks.

As I glance at the wide and soft handmade bed, I scratch the top of my head somewhat embarrassed while asking myself if the large ammount of cuddly duvets with their fluffy blankets and all the cozy cushions and perceived amount of hundreds of pillows were indeed not a little bit too much ...?

Noct hasn't seen the interior of this space yet.

My shoulders give a shrug. What am I exactly fretting about?

It's all for Noct.

Everything in here is intended to aid me in adding to his comfort.

And, if there is anything that Noct is needing the most right now, is time for healing. For pleasure and comfort, in preparation for some major energy consuming tasks that he has to accomplish soon.

My hands haven't stopped trembling with excitement at finally being home again, all alone with my beloved soulmate ...

With Noct.

How damn much did I miss to have him close ... all this long waiting has been so terribly painful.

I won't lie, the longing for him has grown to massive proportions over the long time we've been separated and I can't wait for us to touch intimately again.

A smile stretches over my lips when I hear sounds of water dribbling and splashing outside of these walls.

After anouncing firmly that he wants to hear proper answers and information from me, Noct has silently taken his new clothes, a soft towel and Atlas's favorite soap that I sneaked inbetween the fabrics, and has stomped his way out to clean his body all by himself.

Oh, believe me when I say, that I would have loved to join him. But there was something very awkward in his posture that made me rethink my decision to tease him and to stop myself from asking if I might help out to scratch some of his itches ... it might have come onto him a little bit too strong me thinks.

Well, it's expected after all this time. I have to admit to be disappointed that we didn't hug or kiss yet, I would have thought after finally meeting each other again that he would be estatic, to be eager to have me inside his arms again. In the same way I would have been in his stead.

The only thing that reassured me in that moment were the deep emotions I could read from his face. All those complex feelings, coloured in different shades, that were playing intently inside of his beautiful eyes. I recognized the love and the desire he has for me - before he almost ran out of this cave in a hurry as if the devil himself was after him.

I chuckle and shake my head in good humor at his weird behaviour.

Maybe after we have eaten and have talked in detail about our situation, and have exchanged all vital information, he will be able to open up to me as he did once before. He needs to. It's the only way for him to get his powers back ...

I stand up to clean up the small kitchen counter, having prepared lunch just now for the both of us. It's only a light vegetable soup - serving broth with freshly baked bread. And some fruits for dessert. Nothing out of the ordinary as I didn't exactly inherit Ignis's cooking genes, but it's still delicious and perfect for warming us up and helps to chase away the clammy chill. I did learn many useful things back in Accoris and the wicked ability to stop time does help a lot in preserving fresh food over centuries.

Actually the entire place around this cave was set in a stasis for many thousands of years. Chronus and Atlas did help me to set everything up for this day, for when I would come back at the right time and place to save the life of my soulmate.

It was Noct's destiny to figure out some important things about himself first, else I would have come back much sooner and I could have prevented all the things that happened to him so far. I wanted to return back to the moment before I 'died', to save him from his future pain and suffering, but I wasn't allowed to go that far back into his past, not allowed to tamper with his own free will.

It wasn't planned that the wormholes would be that unstable. I had to jump into several different wormholes, only to come out every single time at the wrong time and place - it got me many failures and tries to do it right and to reach the right timeline. Whoever said that time travelling is easy has obviously never time travelled themselves. Knowledge alone about time travel isn't sufficient, but the combination of your skills and experiences help it to be.

I will never forget the relieved and awed expression on Noct's face, when he first opened his sad eyes and saw me standing there before him. I knew that he gave up on life and was about to say farewell. The look of his swollen red eyes and the trails of his tears on his face made my heart ache with love and pain for him and I would have done everything he would have asked me at that moment to avenge what has been done to him. I was ready to blast Bahamut into the deepest parts of hell if I hadn't learnt from Chronus that their meeting was intended to happen by the will of the Divine ...

To think that I could have almost lost him to Bahamut's anger. Alone this thought is making me wish to go back out there and bring an end to the Archeans sheer madness for wishing to kill his one and only best friend he has ever had.

Noct and the Archeans share a tightly intertwined past, which only in this lifetime is about to find its deserved conclusion.

For everything that Noct has gone through, I have to say he is emotionally quite stable. I'm glad that I was worried for nothing. Speaks of how strong he truly is ... his potential to grow is immense and I'll do my best to accelerate the growth of his strength and magical power with all that I have, with all that I am.

After all, this is why Noct and I are here in this cave in the first place.

For sexual healing. For getting his alien power back to function at full force and to fill up his energy reserves to the limit.

I just don't know how he will react to the fact, that to get his strength and power fully back, he would need to improve his self-control by a mile first and foremost.

I smile in a secret way while polishing the silverware for the upteenth time.

Yeah, he doesn't know what will hit him, since from a personal experience I have quite the idea of what he is in for.

In this regard I changed a lot while I've been away.

As somebody who always loved to tease the hell out of him, I'll make sure to thoroughly enjoy watching him squirm in pleasure within the next few days.

Yeah, I'm glad to be back.

**...**

Setting up a stasis spell over the hot lunch for it to stay warm, I wash my hands clean and wait for Noct to come back. Meanwhile I busy myself to lit all fireplaces inside this place ablaze with my magic, litting up every candle and all the lamps around me.

When I hear his footsteps above coming nearer, I quickly take a last look around to make sure that everything is ready and tidy before sitting myself down on my chair in front of what would be our future dining table.

I furiously try to stop my eager fidgeting around on my seat.

Hell, I even imagine Chronus saying to me: 'Prompto, do yourself a favor and get your head out of the clouds. This isn't your honeymoon. You have a serious purpose.'

But still, who can blame me for craving for Noct's presence so much, especially after all the time lost between us? I can't wait to catch up on everything that I've been missing all this time. And I'm sure he feels the same.

Just then the woody door opens up with a loud squeak and I see his feet stepping down the ladder, slowly revealing himself dressed into the new clothes I gave him. As he is stretching his arms up to close the door after him, his shirt is lifting up and his trousers are slipping a few inches down on his hips and my mouth is hanging wide open at the alluring sight he is unknowingly teasing me with.

I've forgotten what kind of fit body he has, filled with muscles in all the right places while still looking slender and sexy.

I hope his hearing isn't as good as his sight at night to accidently hear me swallow.

Seeing his still damp, glossy hair clinging so temptingly against his long neck, water still dripping downwards inside the collar of his black, snug-fitting t-shirt that is not long enough to hide the low riding and comfortable but still tight trousers on him, I start to feel hot all over. He is presenting me quite the sliver of delectable creamy looking skin underneath, where I can almost make out the beginning of the firm rounds of his buttocks and this makes me salivate instantly.

Fuck. It's been definitely too long for me without his touch.

I close my mouth with a snap just in time, smiling brightly at him when I see how he is jumping down the last few steel treads of the ladder, getting his boots off from his feet to set them against the wall and then turning around, glancing in my direction.

My inviting smile freezes itself on my face.

Something is wrong.

Noct is avoiding my eyes.

I watch how he is awkardly standing there for at least a minute, my twisted face starting to hurt from the wide smile that feels as if it's gone into stasis, both of us not knowing what to do or say.

What has happened for him to be that awkward around me?

One of the last memories I have of him is the one, of when he couldn't wait for us to be alone at night, for us to make love for a whole week uninterrupted. I remember him winning this funny bet with Ignis.

Now that we are finally all alone, day AND night without any interruption whatsoever, definitely for longer than only one week, he gives me the impression of wishing to be anywhere else but in my presence.

It shouldn't hurt me, I know that he experienced things that have in a way changed him a lot. And being forced to give up on life, only hours before, isn't something to forget that easily. It definitely left a deep scar on him ... but ... God, I just wish he would ... damn.

"Ehm, ...", my first sentence starts as eloquent as ever, so I clear my throat once and make an inviting sign with my hand at him. "Please, take a seat. I made lunch ... figured you would be a bit hungry after all the previous chaos around you."

He gives no answer, but is shuffling his feet in small walking steps towards his chair. With a rised brow I continue to watch how he is placing the towel over the back of his chair, placing the small box with the soap on the table and sitting himself carefully down, pulling the chair closer to the table with a screech. He is clasping his somewhat shaky hands on the surface, waiting. His rigid stance tells me he clearly doesn't know what to do with his hands. The damp strands of his hair can't exactly hide the expression on his face from me this time. Usually his fluffy soft hair would be falling all over his eyes, hiding them, and making it hard for me to read what he feels.

I squint my eyes to get a sharper view of him, and then I finally get it.

He's an absolutely nervous wreck inside.

Heh, that's unusual for him - at least in my presence.

If I wouldn't know that this would offend his sensibilities, I would start to tease him because of his shy behaviour. I miss the fun banter between us. It's as if we have switched our personalities if I wouldn't know it better. Whatever it is that is occupying his mind that much, must be some pretty heavy nerve-wrecking material.

I resign myself to give him enough time, letting him to decide when to initiate any serious physical contact between us.

I wish only for a comforting hug, or a sweet kiss - nothing else. For now.

Seeing that he isn't willing to speak yet, I get rid of the stasis spell around our food and take his empty bowl to fill it up with the delicious smelling broth. I place the bowl before him, careful of the heat, and push a plate full of baked bread towards him. Everything smells really tasty, so I really hope the food is to his liking, knowing how picky he can be about food in general - a remnant quirk of his childhood.

"Enjoy your meal. It might not be at the level of Ignis's cooking skills, but I did watch him long enough in the past to know how to cook this vegetable soup."

He throws a surprised glance at me as he is taking the spoon into his hand, probably amazed that I have indeed been cooking this. After taking a spoon full of the hot liquid and tasting it, I hear him saying quietly: "Thank you. It's delicious."

Gosh, I could pinch his cheeks and give a victory dance around the table when I see the corner of his lips rising up. He finally gazes into my eyes for a long moment and then he goes back to his food, ripping a piece of soft bread in half to bite into it.

'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach', they say. Now I know why that is.

I love him so much.

For some time we continue to eat in comfortable silence. The previous awkward atmosphere hanging between us having dissipated into nothingness.

Thankfully.

After he finishes, Noct is pushing his empty bowl to the side, leaning back on his chair, and when I ask if he wishes to have a second serving he is shaking his head negatively in thanks. While he waits for me to finish my meal, I watch him from the corner of my eyes looking around this place. I can see how impressed and curious he is while taking everything in.

This place doesn't look like something you would expect hiding underneath a cave. I'm quite proud of myself for insisting for this place to be spacious, warm looking, inviting and cozy. There are very soft but thick carpets placed on the floor to keep the cold ground away from reaching our feet. The various magical fireplaces installed on each side of the walls, and all the low litted lamps and burning candles, manage to breathe inside this otherwise empty and cold space a much needed life and warmth. The whole atmosphere becomes instantly cozy because of it. Tastful decorations that I took from Accoris with me are hanging on the walls or set on the night table beside the huge bed to fill up the room with a few things, so that it looks properly lived in.

I notice how his gaze is drifting further along to the corner of his right, the one with the fluffy huge bed aligned against the wall and how he is quickly averting his gaze away from it, glancing up to the wide thick carpet hanging on the wall above, which keeps the cold of the stony walls from seeping inside this place. His eyes move now at the kitchen counter on his left side, there is a proper sink unit installed, from where clean drink water runs out. There is also a cooker and a small oven where it's possible for me to cook all different kinds of meals for us.

And then his drifting gaze stops at the second wooden door that is located right behind me.

Reading the question from his curious eyes that are fixed on the door correctly, I say in humor: "The room behind us is frozen in time. I would recommend you to not set a foot inside without asking me first. Except you want to get a taste at being stuck inbetween dimensions. I set all the important materials and food that we will need in stasis, you could say they exist outside of time. We don't need to worry that things would rot in there while we live here."

He is clearly amazed by this, his face glowing with interest, leaning forward and wanting to hear more about my new abilities. "What else did you learn?"

Feeling glad that he seems to warm up to me and behaving normal again, I set my spoon aside and explain: "Noct, for you to understand my inheritance, I need to start at the beginning. Let's make ourselves comfortable, because this might be a long story and it will take a while ..."

Just then I see him glancing quickly at the only comfortable place inside this room - the bed. And then I get to see his face blush deeply red and his eyes stare at his clasped hands without moving an inch.

I roll my eyes inwardly. Great. It's my fault now that he grew nervous on me again. I should have worded my sentence a bit clearer.

Feeling my patience thinning out when he refuses to look up at me, I grit my teeth before I say bluntly with a tight smile: "Noct, relax. I didn't imply for us to jump straight to sex."

At the 'sex' word he is visibly jumping up in his skin and I sigh out in exasperation.

What in the world is his problem? I just can't figure him out anymore. "Look, you act as if this would be a bad thing ... I mean the physical contact between us. Don't bother to hide it, I can read it already from your body language."

He is clasping his beautiful hands with their long and slender fingers much tighter together, furrowing his brows. I'm aware that there is something holding him back. I don't intend to sound needy, but I can't help myself from adding: "Just look at us. Fools we are. We haven't seen each other in a damn long time and we have yet to hug or to give each other an innocent kiss in greeting. How about holding hands? Caressing each other? Aren't we lovers anymore? Soulmates? God help me now, I still love you as fiercly as ever, you know that? But you can't even fathom how many nights in the row, two years Noct, did I dearly wish, craved, longed to see you again. For you it's been only barely four weeks without me. And now you and I are finally here. Together. Alone. The Noct that I did leave behind would not have hesitated even for one second. I'm not blaming you or anything, but seriously, don't you find your sudden awkward and distant behaviour around me as strange as I do?"

His head is immediately shooting up and his gaze is fixed on mine. "No, don't misunderstand ... it's not because of you ... I did miss you just as much, my feelings haven't changed at all, they have only grown over time. It's just ... that I ... I'm- He is stopping in the middle of his sentence, swallowing hard once and I wait for him to finish, curious to hear what has bitten him to act like that.

When it becomes clear that I won't get to hear his explanation, I say softly: "It's okay Noct, in truth, I didn't expect anything between us to happen." He looks as if I just slapped him in the face, hard. Guess this didn't come out right. But I refuse to apologize, I'm sure he'll come around when he's ready. "Look, we need to catch up, right?. And as I said, I have a long story to tell. So, let's just lounge on the huge bed, I promise not to come on to you. It will definitely be better than sitting for long hours on a stiff chair, don't you agree?"

I don't wait for an answer as I take the empty bowls and the spoons away to clean them up after sending the leftover bread and fruits into stasis for dinner.

From the corner of my eyes I follow his hesitant movements towards the bed, relaxing my shoulders in relief when he is getting on it and making himself as suggested comfortable against the pillows - at least as comfortable as he can allow himself to be, with all the weird thoughts battling out a fierce war against another inside this handsome head of his. Shaking my head at him, I finish cleaning up the dining space, and as I'm patting my hands dry on a towel, suddenly memories of our first night in the caravan at Coernix's gas station flood my brain and make me shiver in pleasure. I remember that night quite well, even when for me it happened so long ago. When we fell all over each other in a sexual haze, the tension all evening had become unbearable for us. How Noct almost devoured me, pressing me against the wall to bite, to kiss and lick at my skin as if being completely obsessed with me ... and now? Now it seems as if this ardent obsession and desire of his has cooled off over time.

It is how it is.

No matter how disappointing.

In a way this is a new beginning for us. Both of us have changed over time and we need to get to know each other again, so this makes sense.

I shouldn't mourn after intimate pleasures so early, not before we hadn't even properly talked.

I truly wish things could have happened differently.

And I really shouldn't be that selfish ... we are alive and well. This is the only thing that matters. This is the most important thing and I should focus only on this for now. As I'm truly greatful that we are okay, considering everything.

Making my way to take my place on the bed across from him, I make sure to give him the space that he needs to not feel pressured into giving in to something that he isn't ready for. If he notices the unusual distance between us now, he doesn't comment on it. I fluff up some pillows behind me to lean on and when I'm sure to have his thorough attention I start my tale.

I begin by telling him of my first experiences in Accoris, of how I met my past self named Chronus and his husband named Atlas for the first time. Of what happened to me when Atlas, Noct's own past self, has used his sexual healing ability on me on that afternoon. At this part Noct's eyes get dark with jealousy and I quickly step in to repeat to him the same words that Chronus has told to me on that evening. That in truth we are all one. We are the same souls, me and Chronus, him and Atlas. Each one of us sharing the same experiences and love, time and again through reincarnation. We are each others soulmates through and through, for eternity.

Now I can see him relax and his gaze becoming warmer with understanding, sending me an apologizing nod.

"And after the first day there, " I continue, "my true mission to retrieve my inheritance began. Does the name 'Crystal of Chronos' say something to you?"

"Yes.", he says softly, crossing his arms. "The knowledge of this name ties into my own tale that I need to share with you as soon as you have finished to tell me yours." Sounding sad, he adds: "What I know so far about it, is that this Crystal originally had been in the posession of your family, the Chronos bloodline, before Aldercapt took it forcefully away and ... killed everyone after he failed to activate it."

"I'm surprised you know that much already. Good, this will make my tale a lot shorter." I take out the pendant that was hiding underneath my shirt all this time. A beautiful shard shaped into a key, the delicate looking object reflecting back the warm light of the magical flames inside this room around the walls, painting our surroundings in blotches of breathtaking colours resembling the rainbow.

Curiously, Noct is shifting closer to me to get a better look at the shard. "It's so beautiful ..." He rises his hand to touch it, stroking over the smooth surface with the tip of his forefinger.

I smile softly. "Yes. It's divine.", I say, actually meaning Noct himself, sneaking a glance into his beautiful eyes when he looks up to meet mine.

For a few long seconds our eyes are glued at each other.

My heart is almost leaping out of my chest when I realize how close we sit to each other and when the heady scent of the soap he used on himself is reaching me I clear my throat. Regretfully shifting a bit away from him to increase the distance between us.

His gaze becomes unreadable.

"Sorry." I whisper, feeling the need to explain myself even when he is the one who needs the space. "You distract me when you are that close."

Now his eyes flash with something dark and heavy, I can feel the air around us shifting and becoming hot, but I don't want to push my luck, so I better take us back to the topic at hand. "Ehm, this is of course only a small part of the Crystal. A small, but potent token that I have inherited back in Accoris. You could say, it grants me the gift to have full access to the real Crystal of Chronos that is in Niflheims possession in this timeline as we speak. This functions as a key, or better said, I am the key that this pendant will fully activate in the presence of the Crystal. The powers you've seen me use until now are only a sliver of what the full Crystal is capable to grant upon its heirs. But you, as the new King of Lucis, should know how this works. Regis had used the potent power of the Lucian Crystal to uphold the protective shields around Lucis for almost his entire life. Just think what you would be able to do with that much energy at your disposal. The system of the Crystal that so far has been for over one hundred and thirteen generations in your family, works in the exact same way as mine. This means, to get full control over your Crystal, you need to acquire the key first, which in turn will activate your inner powers to release the full spectrum of the Crystals potential."

"I see ... but how to find the key? My father hadn't told me yet any of the true hairloom secrets. Well, he died before he could, and when I met him in the Astral plane we had other issues to discuss as you know. It is a tradition in our royal family to only learn about such secrets when the previous King is retiring. And the truth is ... I think my father never intended to retire, he never wanted for me to follow his footsteps. I always had that inkling that he didn't want me to suffer the same fate that he did. And i saw what the Crystal's power did to him ... " Noct is frowning at me with worry. "It was draining him, he was aging fast and it weakened his soul."

"Noct, this won't happen to you. For two reasons.", I explain to him to put his worries to sleep. "The first one, you have found your soulmate. With me now forever by your side, your life energy will never completely deplete again. Your father had either never found his true soulmate when he was still alive - or if he did, then they probably both had chosen to stay away from sexual activities."

Noct is punching playfully my arm, saying with a grimace: "Please don't bring up my father and sex in one sentence."

I only smirk back. But then I get serious once more. "The second reason, ever since you and I bonded the first time sexually, both Crystals have been bonding at that time as well. This means, as long as you and I are still alive, the Crystals will continue to feed off and fuel each others energy in an ongoing circle. So you see, our life forces are never going to be consumed by their powerful and draining forces. Do you understand me so far?"

The relief on his face is palpable when he is nodding his head. "Honestly, these news are liberating to hear. I only wish that my father didn't had to suffer so much because of this ..." Noct is looking down, a tired and sad expression on his face.

"Yeah ..." Not knowing what to say, I stay silent for awhile.

Then Noct is speaking up, sounding frustrated: "Without my powers, without spiritual energy, I can't go back to the Astral plane to ask my father about the key. So what can we do?"

"Oh, the answer to that one is simple. Atlas has given me a message for you. He said, your Crystal's key is in truth the crown of the King of Lucis. Only the one selected to be the new King would be able to activate the powers of the Lucian Crystal. It's an important ritual that takes place in an empty room, the retiring King and the new King being the only witnesses to the exchange of the royal crown."

At this I see Noct's face brighten up suddenly in understanding with something very important. I wonder what goes inside his head right now. Either way, this piece of information seems to be vital to him. So I continue: "And this brings us back to what we need to do as soon as we get out of here: Insomnia. I know that Niflheim's airship from today, the one you were travelling with this morning, was scheduled to be on the way to Lucis. But with an angry Bahamut scouting these mountains, we must find another way to get there now. But once we do, we'll probably meet Ignis and Gladio in Insomnia, I'm sure that they have found a way to sneak back inside the capital for the time being."

He is nodding in relief. "I really feel bad that we had to leave those two behind. I miss them a lot."

Without thinking I take his hand into mine, interlacing our fingers together. "Noct, there are all kind of different reasons of why you have me here now. I'm sorry to say it this bluntly, but Ignis and Gladio would have only helped to hold off your progress to get your powers back. I know that they are doing fine and they are waiting for us until the day you and I get back to them. You need to understand that I came to you with a lot of useful information and knowledge that is intended solely for your ears and eyes only. Promise me Noct, that you'll keep everything you learn inside this cave to yourself. I'm very serious. I've been entrusted with so many dangerous secrets that I even needed to properly learn to defend myself under any circumstances."

He is squeezing my hand. "I understand, please trust me. I know how to keep my secrets. ... So, I take it you've grown stronger?"

I squeeze his hand back. "I have." With a playful smirk I add: "I don't want to sound smug, but I'm now a lot stronger than you are."

He jokes suddenly: "Heh, so, does this mean there will be no more wild acrobatics from you on the field to amuse myself with?"

Snorting a laugh in reply, I say: "You bet. I'm relieved having you just admitted of doing that. Being amused about my fighting style. Glad that I was good for something in our deadly battles at least. Next time I should definitely charge you for your illegal entertainment."

His warm fingers stroke softly over mine. An honest smile playing on his lips when he says: "Now I want to catch up to you all the more. I want to become stronger as well."

I look down at our hands with an answering smile. "You will surpass me soon, of that I'm sure." Looking back up, I say: "You know, a lot that I've got to learn from Atlas is actually meant for you. When you get your powers back, I can teach you some new techniques for your Phantom Swords. Parting knowledge to you that even make the Archeans that are loyal to you much stronger. Even Regis wouldn't have known about those, as this knowledge got lost over time."

Noct is smiling wider, clearly happy to hear this, asking me a bit shy: "So ... you know how I can get my powers back? I'm sure you could feel it, because you always were sensitive to the alien force inside of me, but my inner force is either in deep slumber, or ... or it was forcefully taken from me."

I caress his hand to reassure him: "No. Your inner force is deeply asleep. It seems to me that whatever happened to you before has depleted your magical ressources completely. And whenever this happens your powers stay dormant until the day you feed them with new life energy. You are lucky that I'm here. Without my help, you wouldn't be able to wield the Crystals power anymore - for your whole life. I think you know at what I`m hinting at, don't you? And this is also one of the important reasons you and I are here. Alone. In this comfy place."

He blushes and suddenly tries to pull away his hand from me, but I hold it firmly with mine, interlacing our fingers again. "Running away will not make you stronger, Noct. I suggest to you to get over whatever is holding you currently back from expressing your desires fully with me. This is not a game, I'm bat-shit serious. I act only in your best interest. While we are here, I don't seek any sexual gratifications for my own selfish satisfaction. We are going to share everything. There will be time for difficult lessons and then there will be time for making love. You will know which is which when the time comes."

Noct starts to shift away from me, clearly having an issue with this, but I pull him even closer to me, our knees touching. Now he glances away.

"Noctis Lucis Caelum. Look at me.", I say his full name in a hard voice, slowly getting fed up with his skittishness.

When I get his full attention, his shy eyes meeting mine, I say firmly: "The long time I've spent beside Chronus, he teached me a lot about sexual energy and its healing properties. I acquired even more knowledge than the Sex Magic book could have ever given me. I've become a full fledged master in this field. I'm a healer, Noct. Do you know what this means?"

He is shaking his head slightly as 'no'.

"This means, that all healing sessions you and I will be experiencing right here on this bed, are going to happen under the highest moral, spiritual and ethical terms and conditions possible. Trust me to know what I'm doing - I wouldn't be here to help you, if I wouldn't be able to do the sacred mastery of healing any justice with my knowledge and experience." I stop here for a short moment to see if he understood what I just said.

Again, he looks impressed, his eyes staring awed at me.

"And when it comes to us making love ..." I continue in a soft husky voice, letting my desire for him to hear seeping through and lifting his hand up to give an open-mouthed kiss on his knuckles. "Well, I can't give any guarantees for what will happen to you. After such a long time we've been separated, be prepared for my wish to be devoured by you completely."

His sharp intake of breath is making a loud hissing sound and he struggles to pull his hand away from my lips. I can see how uncomfortable he is right now.

Not wanting to push his boundaries, I release my firm grip on his hand, saying jokingly: "Let's just say I found my brain chilling on another galaxy and it wobbled instantly back inside my empty head when we met again. Now I'm ready for the intellectual battle against Ignis you once promised to me on that fateful night before hunting the Behemoth. Do you remember?"

The corner of his mouth is twitching in amusement.

I smile back. "But in all seriousness, everything I know now about sexual healing techniques is self-taught, so you don't need to worry about me experimenting these intimate things with others while having been apart from you. As Ignis said to you once, get rid of any shame or uncomfortable issues you have with sex, because the intimate knowledge that I'm going to share with you will one day save our lives. The sexual energy you'll get out of our bond is invaluable and I know that YOU know that. So please, stop hiding, stop running away from me. I mean you no harm."

Noct is closing his eyes, the shaky inhales and exhales make his body tremble. Then his gaze is back on me, more intense than ever. My eyes grow wide with surprise when I hear the confession that rushes forward and out of his beautiful lips: "You are right. I need to apologize to you. It's just ... seeing you again, looking so maddeningly gorgeous, saving me just when I needed you the most, being there for me when no other could, blowing me entirely away with everything that you did today and with everything that you just said to me ... and Heaven, have I told you how insanely good you look with your longer hair down?"

His free hand comes up to stroke over the strands of my hair and I give a purr of pleasure when his fingers part to comb through them. "And then here I am," He continues, „madly in love with you, but not knowing how to interact with this new version of you, who is so much more confident, and mature, and stronger. And I was about to lose my mind earlier. Because I reeked like a dead rat and I feared you would be disgusted with me once we touch, and because I did lose all my powers that made the sex so pleasureable for you in the first place ... without them, without those alien powers, I feel so weak and unworthy of you-"

I place my forefinger immediately over his soft lips to make him shut up. Then I whisper with a dangerous glint in my eyes: "Stop right there."

I can see his fear openly revealed on his face once he realizes what exactly he has just confessed to me. By the looks of it, he didn't want me to hear all of these tiny juicy little details at the end.

That's when it finally dawns on me.

Just now he looks like a rabbit caught in the act of doing something naughty. A cute, heady smelling, sexy as hell rabbit, who is now backing slowly away from me and avoiding my eyes again. I can see him clearly ashamed about his admission, the red flush all over his face and neck betraying and revealing his true feelings. One glance downwards to his lap and I get my confirmation that he was sexually aroused in my presence this whole time.

When he realizes that I know now how excited he feels because of me, he scrambles his trembling body in a hurry to get as far away from me as possible, gulping dryly.

"Oh hell no, you won't." I growl at him, feeling like a fox who has found his cute rabbit prey, enjoying this situation quite a lot. "I won't let you get away this time, Noct. Not now, when I finally get what your true problem is."

I simply follow his trail, getting up on all fours, inching confidently bit by bit forward with my hands and legs while the soft bed under me is dipping low with my movements. And once he understands a little too late that he can't get away from me anymore, I've already successfully cornered him inbetween me and the wall of soft pillows behind him.

His beautiful grey-blue eyes widen in a mixture of anticipation and dread, and my lips quirk up to a feral smile, slowly closing the last gap between us.

My delectable, turned on rabbit has now no room to escape and it's making me heady with arousal to see him excited like this again. It's definitely been too long for us...

I stop mere inches in front of him, my face leaning into his personal space and I can see that he can't look away from me at all.

So I hiss in a low voice, sounding dangerous to my own ears: "You mean to tell me, that this entire time we haven't embraced nor kissed each other yet, because you thought you didn't smell good?" My dangerous glinting eyes are mere slits, narrowing them as I'm beyond belief at the stupidity of the bleak excuse he gave me, and I guess this must be showing clearly on my face for him to swallow dryly yet again.

His brain visibly overworking itself with highspeed, thought processes backpedaling, as I hear him say in his defense: "Correction: I stank abominably. Stinking to high heaven. I reeked, okay? Not smelling bad, it was nauseating; a very big difference."

I bark out a soft laugh of disbelief at his lame excuse, getting even closer to his wonderful trembling body, stretching my neck forward to reach his throat as I tilt my head to trail the tip of my nose along his soft skin there, inhaling deeply his unique scent. He groans out loud, his shaking limbs shifting under me to a more comfortable position, and I enjoy the view immensely when he leans his head far back into the pillows, stretching his chest towards me, unconsciously inviting me to do more. And then I hear myself murmur in a raspy voice: "You smell absolutely divine ... in fact you smell so damn good I want to lick you everywhere, not a single spot of your skin shall be left untouched by my thirsty tongue." And to engrave my intention and erotic promise on him, the flat of my tongue is licking a wet path firmly from his throbbing pulse up to his Adam's apple.

A dark growl full of awakened desire is rumbling forth from him and I can barely hold myself back from devouring those wide opened, lush looking lips of his.

Judging by the heavy lidded eyes that do mirror the sheer need inside of mine, its potency making both of us moan out simultaneously, oh hell, I almost forgot how intense our bond truly is.

And he really wanted to run away from this?

"You are an idiot." I whisper lovingly. "Such an incredible, sweet, hot and sexy idiot. But I wouldn't want you in any other way."

I watch him writhing under me, stretching his legs out so that I have more room to sit down on his groin.

Gods... the feel of his hardness under me is exquisite... it just became even harder for me to hold back from dry-humping ourselves into oblivion.

When I hear the sensual whimper so close to my ear, a heady sound that is going straight to my own cock, I grasp his chin in a slight painful grip with my fingers, forcing him to look back at me. "And? Tell me, what was your second excuse again? You thought I wouldn't enjoy the sex anymore because you lost all your powers?" I push my groin against his, gaining another amazing sounding moan from him.

"Oh Noct, please. Look closer.", I breathe against him, an ironic smile gracing my lips. And then I hear myself sounding hoarse from the insane urge to feel his naked skin against mine, adding: "You need only to have a proper look at my body." I give another sharp thrust of my hips against his fully aroused cock, the rotating movements intensifying steadily as the flimsy fabric of his trousers does nothing to hide his raw hunger for my touch. He throws his head deeper into the pillows, rolling his eyes back when a keen cry of lust escapes him, and I feel him gripping my hips with more strength to rub himself on me.

Oh sweet hell, how much I missed feeling this. Feeling his blazing heat against me. He feels insanely good against me, my hands stroking over his chest in repeating motions, my fingers just itching to rip his clothes entirely off.

And hell, I shouldn't have looked down in that moment, because the sight of the his erect cock sticking out from under the waistband of his trousers is destroying my ability to think coherently.

My mouth is going all dry with the urge to suck him off.

But there is still this little issue that he needs to come in terms with first, before we do anything serious. "And? Do you think my cock feels right now as if it particulary cares about your lost powers? Are you still in denial? Well, let me convince you, Noct." I imagine my husky voice and the look in my eyes are getting the message of the sexual madness and yearning that I feel for him across. While my scorching gaze stays glued on his, I trail my wet lips up to his chin, nibbling softly there a few times with open-mouthed licks and kisses to soothe his abused skin after loosening my tight grip on him.

When he calls out my name, sexual desire clearly written all over his beautiful facial features, I growl posessively at him, my hands placed on each side of his face, saying: "As you can feel now, my cock cares only for your touch and your touch only. It cares now badly for pleasure and release for which only you are able to deliver. And trust me when I say, you alone, powerless, are more than capable to satisfy my dark, insatiable and unfulfilled needs."

„Oh Prom... yesss...", he moans, his hips thrusting up repeatedly to increase the erotic friction between us.

With another growl my right hand advances downwards, halting my fingers over the exposed head of his erection and I tease the wet slit there, pushing the tip of my finger harder against it with rubbing motions, biting on my own tongue to keep myself from moaning when I feel a long spurt of lubricating drops of his precum coating my fingers.

And damn it all to hell, he makes me throw caution to the wind and let him take me here, right now!

"Prom ... aahhnn... " There is nothing contained about his moans now as I keep pleasuring his sensitive shaft. There is nothing holding him back anymore as the thrusting movements of his hips against me intensify, the need for more pressure and proper strokes on his hard flesh entirely visible inside those intense and glazed-over eyes of his.

Pleased with his reactions to me so far, I continue with the flat of my tongue to lick his chin upwards, teasing him, slowly, very slowly. I work my way further up to his tempting, quivering lower lip. Once I reach those luscious looking mounds of flesh that are just begging to be kissed by me, I allow myself to barely touch them. Giving him only a slight taste of what is yet to come as I flick my tongue in small teasing motions over his soft lips. In addition to that I let him feel how badly, wonderfully aroused my own cock is as I continue to assault his senses shamelessly, rutting against him, pressing my finger almost painfully against the slit when I see how much this turns him on, while rotating my hips with the blazing intent to drive him completely mad for me.

I can feel the wide wet spot of his excitement seeping through the material of our trousers, my fingers on his cock feeling slippery from the immense amount of precum, and I feel greedy when I realize how close he is to get an orgasm, holy hell! This is turning me on so much that I almost lose it then and there.

Almost.

"Well? Noct, what do you think? Do I feel against you as if I need your alien powers to blow my brain and cock away?", I murmur against his skin, demanding to get finally an answer, my harsh breaths tickling his lips as I wait.

Noct seems to be sobbing with sexual avidity, shaking his head from left to right, as if completely lost in his sensual impressions and erotic desires he has accumulated for me until now. The sheer ache for a release painted all over his breathtaking looking face as I stop my hand from pleasuring him.

He's simply too beautiful, too precious for words ...

And just then, at the moment when the top of my tongue dives down again to lick over his lips, his own tongue darts out suddenly to have a taste of me, as if begging to be properly kissed.

"Heaven help me..." I utter breathlessly, feeling my self-control slipping, but before I can stop myself my wide open mouth is hungrily crushing down on his with more force than intended, causing both of us to groan out keenly at the same time as if being in carnal heat.

Back in Accoris I craved for his kisses so much, every single night that I spent apart from him yearning painfully for his warmth and taste, and now when I have the opportunity again to ravish his lips I find myself not able to stop.

His hands come up to my head, raking his fingers excitingly through my hair as our open mouthed kiss quickly tranform into ardent tongue-kisses that seem to fuel the longing for each other even more. Noct's eager hands then trail down to cup my buttocks fully into a firm grip, with a measured strength that is making me want to climax on the spot when he's squeezing and kneading them at the same pace as I continue to thrust my groin impatiently over his still half-clad cock.

But just when his hands wander under my belly to open the first button of my trousers, my mind becomes clearer and I pause our hot, bruising kisses forcefully, panting harshly against the side of his face and feeling absolutely delirious and drunk with the sheer need for him to fuck me into the mattress.

Heaven. Only from watching his erotic expression could I become undone now. And the way how he begs me with those dark eyes, glazed fully with a raw urgency to bury himself deep inside of me for us to reach the completion we both madly hunger for ... or, when I read his expression right, with the urgency for my cock to bury itself deep inside of him ...

Gods ... my self-control is on the verge to slip again, I feel myself almost giving in to his wish.

Almost.

But I know that my own self-control is unbreakable by now. It has to be.

So I lick one last time over his alluring lips, relishing their taste while I get up from our bed and licking my lips, and I place myself in front of him, straightening up my shirt and forcing myself to look completely bored.

"This is your first lesson today. As of now, for as long as we stay inside this cave, I won't allow you to touch yourself, nor to ever reach your climax without my permission."

The growing disbelief on his face, as my words finally sink inside his lustful brain cells, is definitely worth the years I had to wait.

**...**

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To be continued.


	16. Healing - Noctis POV

Hey everyone,

first things first: **WARNING! This long chapter consists mostly of m/m yaoi/lemon/sex scenes! Intended for mature readers only!**

_**Also, a second warning for this chapter:** it's seme/top-Prom and uke/bottom-Noct (!). _If you don't like to read this, simply skip those parts. Don't worry, Noct will later take the seme/top position again.

I just realized, the last time that our darlings got to be intimate with each other, in this story, has been well over seven chapters ago (!). This is inacceptable. Let's catch up, shall we?

Nothing else for me to say about this chappy folks (other than it's a long one), as it speaks for itself ( I hope ;))!

**ben4kevin:** lol, yeah ... I had fun especially writing that part, haha.

**Annie:** Hey :). Wow! Thank you so, so much for your review and compliments, what a nice surprise, I'm so glad to read that you like my work so much. I always love to read readers reactions in return and honestly, I appreciate having you written some feedback so that I can understand what my readers like or don't like.

Now about the detailed lemons, which I really enjoy to write (and which this chapter has a lot of). I admit having been always an avid reader of well written homo-erotica. Not many authors have the knowledge/experience/talent to pull those parts off in my opionion, so it was frustrating more often than not when I read an absolutely amazing story with an incredible plot, only to be disappointed shortly after when the time for a good lemon between the characters came only to be left wanting afterwards :(. Without the juicy parts of what happens before, inbetween and after a lemon scene, without description of all kinds of feelings, the atmosphere, the mood etc., the lemon scene is not realistic. We are all human, and we all have emotions, we always feel something - especially in the deepest throws of lust, right?

And so, I swore to myself to never do the mistake of leaving things out (because I might feel lazy or whatever) when I write. I'm not an expert or a pro (not yet, haha), but I do write not only as if I would only impressionate my characters, I also love to write from the perspective of being myself a reader. I enjoy reading my own stories several times until I find something that I don't like, so I simply go back to rewrite the part that is strange/amiss and add things until the content looks good to my current state of mind.

Sorry for the long ramble, I'm quite passionate about this topic, I could write about it even more lol, so once I start I just can't shut up about it.

Also, to finally answer your question, Annie: as you can see from this chapter, yes, Prompto get's the chance to top. Usually I don't like to read seme-Prompto and uke-Noct fics, but in this case I make an exception for this story, as Noct is vulnerable and needs healing, and also because Prom has become slightly older/mature and is as powerful as Noct (in my plot they will be equals in that sense). So, thanks again, Annie! Would love to hear more from you :).

Enjoy this chapter everyone!

Kamuel

**P.S.: wow, I reached a milestone! This story has ten people following this story! To all of you thank you very, very much! I appreciate your support. I'll continue to grow and give my best!**

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**Chapter Sixteen - Healing - Noctis POV**

**...**

Do you know of this feeling, as if a rug has been pulled from under your feet?

Feeling, as if the reality inverted itself and now everything around you feels like an unbelievable hot dream?

This is what my face looks like right now as I look at the now empty space where Prom has just stood mere seconds ago.

Who is this person and what in the world has he done to the real Prompto?

I swear my mind has just gone completely blank.

My body is a complete sexually aroused mess.

I'm completely blown away by Prom right now.

He managed to get me soaring up that high with lust, that at this moment I don't care how, I just want to have him in all kinds of outrageous lewd ways and positions that is almost frightening to me. I can barely recognize myself. I won't get to sleep a wink tonight beside him, not after I just experienced the most sexually charged episode I have ever had in my entire young life.

The logical side of my brain knew from the beginning that he would still desire me even without my powers active. But then he made sure to be persuasive to that extent, that I don't even know anymore why I thought avoiding sex with him would be a great idea in the first place.

While the sexual pleasures between Prom and me have been incredible so far, all those few experiences definitely pale in comparison to the heady potential of the pleasures we are going to have from now on. Because compared to before, Prom now definitely knows what he's doing.

And it clearly shows.

He and I have never ever come that close to the madness that actually transpired between the two of us today. Now I can see, that before this, we've only played around, being curious and horny like the teenagers that we weren't allowed to be when we were younger. Everything so far has of course always been intense between us, yes, but I realize only now that at that time we were involved at a more innocent level. A beginners level so to speak, where we've only just begun to discover each others sexuality and where we only started to experiment with the lust amplifying aphrodisiac that my alien powers provided to us.

But the true frighteningly potent question now is, will I be able to handle this high level of insanity and intensity every single time when we make love?

Deep sweet heaven, I desperately hope so ... It's scandalous how badly I want, no, NEED to have him. Prom made me lose all the control I had over myself. And this time there was no alien power to interfere with my judgement.

His new self is so confidently sensual, sexually provoking and so deeply captivating, on a level that I would never had believed this to be possible for him.

I'm positively shocked out of my shell. And I'll probably stay this way for a long time.

All the things he just did to me .. and the things he just said to me ... his new mature looks, his entire presence today ...

From the moment I first laid my eyes on him today ... I've fallen for him all over again and again. Hard. I honestly didn't know, that true love can have that many different layers and hues and shades and facets of intensity. It's only now that I begin to fathom the sheer magnitude of this kind of love between us.

Forget the almost immature desire that I had felt for him until today. The glimpse that I just saw in him, made me realize, how awfully inexperienced and clueless about sex in general I am.

Prom's bold attitude today in bed speaks of fortitude, self-control and serious knowledge, and I'm in a sexual frenzy because of it. Having now ongoing pangs of hunger to explore the entire range of his expertise. If it makes any sense, I'm already addicted to the pleasures he has yet to introduce me to.

And the most shocking revelation for me was, that for the first time in my life I need Prom to claim me.

I still remember the moments, which he and I shared inside the caravan of Wiz' Ranch, on the night before hunting Behemoth. The incredible feeling of those tendrils of energy stroking places inside of me I never knew I had. When Prom willed those tendrils to massage the entire inner area of my anus, touching my pleasure gland relentlessly, the idea of having Prom properly satisfying my urges from the inside has never ever crossed my mind back then.

But today, oh God help me, after today ... I feel this sudden growing thirst overcoming my brain, overwhelming all my senses to have his gorgeous cock, which was thrusting against mine so ardently only minutes before, to pierce me inside over and over until I pass away from the mind-shattering climax.

This mad wish I have now, to be on the receiving end, has never happened to me before and I don't know how to deal with my new insight.

Is it because Prom has changed that much?

Is it because of the sad events this morning, because I feel vulnerable inside and need him to posess me in that way to feel protected and safe ... ?

Whatever it is, I'm desperate to explore it. I can't properly describe how much I love this new side of him.

What a hot and unexpected surprise this turned out to be.

Prom is absolutely breathtaking. From the moment he appeared before my eyes I started to feel ... unworthy. It's foolish to feel that way, I know. But I can't help myself from feeling in such a way, because he appeared before my eyes at the most crucial moment of my life.

He came back to me with a big bang, suddenly turning my whole world as I knew it one hundred and eighty degrees completely over its own head.

He is my salvation.

My eternal soulmate.

I love him. Deeply. Madly.

Now that I've somewhat made some sense out of my jumbled thoughts and emotions, I lift my hands up to rub over my still hot face, the skin on my forehead damp with sweat, my face flushed red from the maddening arousal still swirling inside my groin. I can't stop thinking about how damn intense it felt when Prom pressed his finger firmly against the slit of my cock ... it was such a huge turn on, I could have ejaculated all over his hand alone from the strong pressure he kept there ... I wish he hadn't stopped. Even my lips are tingling nonstop from the forceful and consuming kisses he gave me.

The way how he takes charge, being fierce, driving me delirious with his demands and making my mind spin with such an inflaming need to feel his hot hardness inside me. Damn .. there is this throbbing lust in my groin that will forever haunt me, burn me, destroy me if I'm not allowed to relieve this unresolved sexual tension between us very soon.

I don't know what to do. I'm just too awe-struck.

Is this how Prom always felt when I took charge back then?

It's honestly such a heady feeling to submit to your lover, to submit and forget yourself fully into those delicious sensations he induces.

There is now only one focused string of ongoing thoughts that my brain is capable of to produce.

And they all share the same theme and name:

Sex.

It's all that I want.

It's all that I can think about right now.

Prom ...

I feel like I'm drowning in my own pool of carnal, lascivious and never ending erotic thoughts of him.

Only, that thoughts alone won't satisfy my hunger for him, at all.

I really need to do something ...

I'm still lying here on the soft bed in the same position he has left me, after having been thoroughly kissed and seduced and dry-fucked into the mattress by him.

By God, I'm so heavily aroused and bone-deep horny at the moment, that I feel like I could claw my eyes out if I knew it would help to calm me down.

It's too hot in here.

Or is it just me?

I finally push my trousers and briefs down along my thighs to free my screaming erection.

Prom has strictly prohibited me from touching myself, but I feel as if I'm about to lose control over my sex-muddled brain for good if I don't do something about the raging desire boiling in my blood.

As I look down at my erect penis springing finally free, the excited damp head an angry red, the strained, darker shades of my veins a stark contrast to my paler skin, I see the entire flesh pulsing and twitching impatiently before my eyes. This is the first time that I see my engorged organ this agitated with sexual excitement.

Gods... the room is too hot, the yearning for Prom's touch too strong. I'm about to burst.

The tempting image of stroking myself right now is making me groan outloud, being simply too sensitive to any kind of visual stimulation. The images in my head making me gasp greedily for air, my hands clawing desperately at the soft sheets under me.

With my hunger for a much needed orgasm still insatiated, I punch in utter frustration the soft bed under me, cursing inwardly. I'm breathing out a sigh of utter despair as I glance up at the cave ceiling as if it would grace me with sudden enlightening answers.

I'm honestly debating with myself about breaking Prom's new rules, asking myself if he would be able to trace back the fact of me having touched myself only a tiny little small bit, before he comes back.

Now that he's gone to take a bath outside by the waterfalls, I might have some spare time to get some much needed relief. I feel so tempted to pleasure myself... but I shouldn't.

I'm moaning in desmay, my trembling hands are already sneaking along the trembling, rippling muscles of my slender body, in the end being too weak to resist temptation, caressing with the tip of my fingers over the huge amount of wet puddles of precum which have spilled all over my lower abdomen in thrilling circles. They are a definite proof of my mad desire for Prom. I'm playing with the lubricating liquid inbetween my fingers, smearing the sticky substance in my hand as the urge to push my finger up inside me is growing stronger by the second.

Damn ... I'm just too delirious and frantic with lust for now to heed Prom's orders. I can't hold myself back anymore or I'll black out from the sheer need.

With my middle finger now fully coated with drops of my precum, I lift my hips up to reach behind me, curiously pushing the tip of my finger slowly inside the tight ring of muscles.

When I see that it doesn't hurt as much as I first expected, I grow too impatient for a slow exploration and I just push the entire finger fully in, until I feel the knuckles of my hand meeting my now streched opening from the outside. With an impatient groan I curl it slightly up, probing around, and then I cry out a keen moan in ecstasy when it rubs over my gland for the first time.

Heaven yes... this what I need!

Taking some much needed air I start to feel really hot everywhere, I adjust my position to make more room for my wrist to move in thrusting motions.

And then I hit my sensitive gland again, again ... groaning lowly in my throat, my entire groin area aflame in a much deeper awakened pleasure.

Oh my God … This feeling is exactly what I want to share with Prom right now. I just know that with him it will feel even better!

This is what my body and mind is demanding with every fiber of my being … please ...

Pumping now my finger inside and out, faster, experimenting with shorter but harder thrusts, I'm starting to breathe harder, moans of ecstasy growing louder, and I really hope that Prom can't hear me out there because I can't keep silent at all. Heaven, I just can't believe how horny this makes me. Had I known before how incredibly good this feels, I would have done this a whole lot sooner. It doesn't take long for my hot blood to boil over with the strength of my impending orgasm, panting, breathing harshly through my nose, anticipating to reach the shattering climax soon … Soon. Any second now ...

So I speed up my ministrations, adding a second finger, never failing to hit and rub that special place that makes me go wild to feel even more.

I'm already dizzy from the searing pleasure wrecking my body, grunts of ecstasy reverberating inside this place as I gasp for air, getting higher, much higher, needing to feel more.

But I still feel my intense climax only approaching, holding it, but never reaching beyond.

I keep this ambrosial insanity going for many, long minutes, and only after do I finally realize that without touching my engorged cock I won't reach an orgasm at all.

This is even better! I'm thrilled! I'm shocked with lust! I'm beyond excited, because this means this maddening pleasure won't stop any time soon.

So I spread my legs further apart, as far as my trousers allow, and continue to stroke against that spot inside me like a mad man, thirsty and simultaneously drunk on thoughts of Prom and myself having sex in all kinds of positions here on this bed that are borderline obscene as they are beautiful to watch. It makes me see stars, it makes me sob with this heavy longing of 'something' that I badly crave to experience, and suddenly the pleasure keeps growing a notch and going on and on ... the inner visual feedback in my head has long grown completely explicit in my helpless yearning for Prom, the images much more detailed and outrageous than I would have ever had the courage to imagine under normal circumstances without getting absolutely ashamed of myself.

It's the first time for me to actually have fallen that deep into such delirious sexual arousal while pleasuring myself.

The experience is staggering!

I don't know how many more minutes I literally torture myself with this immense rocking pleasures, never reaching the orgasm that I badly crave, but neither daring to actually stroke my cock to cum without Prom here by my side.

And then my wrist starts to grow tired, hurting quite a bit, and I sigh out in disappointment at needing to stop here, only rubbing a few times longer with my curled finger on my over-sensitive spot to squeeze as much pleasure out of it as possible.

I halt the movements of my hand completely, almost wheezing my inhales and exhales in and out from the exertion and sounding like an old man already.

I usually don't like to swear, but … holy fuck.

I just have no room for proper thoughts inside of me after experiencing _that_.

A wince escapes me when I pull my fingers out, feeling strangely empty now. The almost abused ring of my anus clenches and unclenches itself on and off and this feels so damn erotic. As I catch my breath, I'm lifting my hand up to look at my finger's glistening surface, wishing I could have something longer and thicker with proper lubrication around here to use.

What I just got to feel is world-shattering to me ... the lower half of my spine is burning up, buzzing and tingling pleasurably with the strongest shocks of ecstasy I've ever felt that it's bordering on painful, my erect arousal straining up to its limit and pulsing with inner heat, demanding for release now that the constant imput of pleasures have stopped so sudden.

And then, with a shock of _something_ very, very intense, I can't help but bend backwards with a raw cry of need, feeling absolutely hot all over, a swirling liquid heat starts blazing up inside my anus, even without touching myself I feel now on the brink of fainting, an unknown energy flowing through my spine that makes me fear of passing out!

Oh hell ... what have I done? What is happening to me?

But as soon as I fear to lose my mind, it's already over.

My heart is racing from what I just felt to be something resembling a hundred orgasms at once without spilling any of my seed, if possible my cock even more erect and hungry as before.

Gods ... my body has now grown very heavy and much hotter, and I become aware that my plan to find just a little tiny bit of relief just backfired on me.

I didn't think it possible, but now I crave even more intensly for Prom.

So this might be the reason why he prohibited to touch myself in any way.

Hell.

It's just not fair ...

I'm sure that Prom is taking care of his own needs right at this moment, while I have to wait out until my eager erection does abate on its own, which seems to be impossible in my current state of aroused body and mind.

With a craving whine for Prom's touch, I roll over on my stomach, still breathing heavily, sweating, sighing out in bliss when the cool sheets under me slide over my painfully hard erection, soothing the heat a little that I can feel focused there.

Shifting my feverish gaze at the empty side of our bed, just thinking about Prom and me sleeping next to each other, night after night, is driving me crazy ...

My arm reaches forward to caress full of yearning over what would be his bed side. I absolutely can't wait for us to have sex again. My whole brain has melted into an outrageous puddle of pure unadulterated lust. I'm entirely focused only on sex and sex only. Having truly gone too far now to become ashamed again about this fact anymore.

I close my eyes tightly, my whole body shivering despite feeling too hot. Having this insistent urge for completion screaming in my blood. All my instincts and desires wound up to the highest pitch, running rampant in my head. And it's a damn shame I'm not allowed to do anything serious about it. Who knows what will happen to me if I actually climax without Prom being here... I begin to seriously fear for my life if I were to experience such mind-boggling, painful orgasms from the depths of my spine once more.

What I don't understand is, wasn't the release of an orgasm the important moment when life force is released and exchanged, and in my case absorbed by my alien powers?

So ... if I'm not allowed to touch myself, nor to reach my climax, what exactly is Prom up to?

Torture ... ?!

What kind of purpose does all of this serve in the end ... ?

Well ... why don't I try to find out?

A sly smile appears slowly on my lips.

Just you wait, Prom.

I can fight with the same weapons as you do.

If I can't have what I want now, I'll get it with other means soon.

I lift my upper body up to a sitting position to completely undress myself, folding my new t-shirt, the trousers and my socks up with shaking hands, and then I stand up on my trembling feet, as naked as God has created me, to place them on the chair I previously sat on.

Prom has all these soft rugs placed around the bed, and I feel so glad to feel warmth under my feet as I tiptoe quickly back on the bed and position myself to lie again on my stomach. The dizziness of the sheer sexual need makes the room around me spin. I stretch out all my limbs on the bed like a cat, before I move to lie down in what I hope to be a very erotic pose, making sure to bend one knee and stretch my legs wide apart. For Prom to have the best view possible of my entire exposed and aroused lower half when he comes back.

Now I only need to wait for him to enjoy the sight. And most probably seducing him into a round or two of blazing sex.

Several minutes pass me by ... hearing the water outside as it is lapping in soothing motions against the cave walls

It's almost too hot in here ... but still ... very, very comfortable. The mattress and blankets under me so soft, so fluffy, that I'm not really aware, despite my raging hard on, how in a matter of seconds I quickly fall asleep on the cushy pillows and sheets spread all around me.

**...**

A low, dark chuckle close to my ear is waking me up from my light slumber.

I hear Prom whisper to me softly: "I have to admit, you were always good at playing to the gallery and be the center of everyones interest. But ... I never expected to be welcomed back by such a compelling sight."

Prom's breaths are tickling the fine hairs against the side of my face, which immediately makes me alert and focused to my surroundings. I feel his lips nibbling my ear when he's asking huskily: "... you possibly wouldn't have been up and about to ensnare me on purpose, ... or have you?"

I shift a little, to find a better position for my painfully hard cock, which is momentarily trapped between my belly and the blankets. The moment he woke me up I've gone from half-hard instantly to fully erect again.

"Noct ... let me tell you ... you are so incredibly beautiful ... and sexually provoking. " He whispers against the skin of my cheek, lips pursed to a soft, open-mouthed kiss that trails sideways to my earlobe, his wonderful palm only slightly tracing the lines of my nude figure downwards to my bottom and along tickling the upstanding fine hairs everywhere on my skin with his feather light touch.

He chuckles.

I think he definitely knows the kind of effect he has on me right now ...

Another tender whisper reaches me, his soft lips tracing the shell of my ear. "Days ... months ... years have gone by without you. And now that I have you finally by my side, I barely can't contain my emotions ... nor my hard earned restrains."

My lips are pressed together not to accidently make a sound, catching the first moan firmly in my throat at the arousing sensation of a lubed warm finger gliding down the crease inbetween my buttocks, to stroke the still sensitive entrance of my anus.

I can hear him gasping sharply in surprise, then a sound between a moan and a dangerous growl.

Oh hell ... he knows.

"I see ...", he murmurs in my ear, pushing the tip of his finger firmly deeper inside in rotating and small thrusting motions. The lure to push my bottom to meet his slight circling thrusts is maddening.

There is this sexy, soft groan from him just when I feel his head turning sideways to look down at his thrusting finger.

His soft voice sounds hoarse, the sight of his finger pumping inside and out of me probably turns him on a lot, I can tell from his heavy intakes and exhales of breath. But he also sounds definitely dangerous to me now when he says: "Maybe my ability to recall past events have become bad over time. But say, Noct, have I only imagined having imposed over you a ban of touching yourself?"

Well, shit.

I gulp hard, clutching the pillows under my head tighter, fighting against the urge to finger-fuck myself on his hand.

"I've gotten older Noct, but not that old to forget what I said to you.", he says, now sounding darkly amused, all the while the rotating movements of his fingers intensify and I open my mouth wide to a silent scream of sheer pleasure rocking my bones. I don't know how he is doing this, but hell, I would do anything for him to keep doing whatever he does to me!

„Prom!"

When I fingered myself there before, it wasn't nearly as carnal as it feels now with his hand.

I feel his smiling lips back on my ear, then he sighs softly.

"The sight of you coming apart with pleasure is so arousing to me ... such strong ecstasy suits you so well, makes you even more sensual than you already are to me."

Now I can't help a loud whimper of want escaping, his fingers suddenly curling up and starting to fuck me against that already oversensitive gland with fervor. And then he already adds another finger to his thrusts when he realizes how loose my eager channel already is. Holy heaven, I want to lift my hips up so damn badly to feel him even deeper! But he holds my bottom firmly down on the bed.

"So tell me, Noct, ... what did you do, while I diligently meditated outside to get rid of my brick-breaking hard rod I had on me, without jerking off even once, all because of you?"

The flat of his tongue is following a wet and hot path down to my throat and neck and then he nibbles on a sensitive spot not so gently, his own desire palpable against my skin.

Hell, I can only push myself back into him as far as my hips do allow, my breaths harsh against the surface of my pillow.

"Image, now all my hard work to calm myself down was in vain.", he whispers huskily, his voice sounding reprimanding. „It's even worse now."

Prom shifts his body to lie fully down on my burning skin and another craving moan comes out of my already slack mouth, because his warmth is covering up my entire back and his gorgeous heavy and hard arousal is pressed tightly against one side of my bottom.

"Do you feel this?", he asks demandingly, pushing his groin harder on me.

I give a weak nod of my head, biting my lip in sexual rapture at the feeling of his cock against my bottom and then crying out in bliss from the ongoing massaging fingers inside of me.

"Good.", he growls. "Because it's your fault now that I'm brick-breaking hard again."

He lets me feel his entire naked glory when he lifts his leg over mine. And if his lubed fingers wouldn't torture me that pleasurably right now, I would have long turned around to drink in the sight of his nude and more mature body. I want to properly face him, I want to touch him!

But he denies my movements by holding me down, asking me teasingly: "Surely you have figured out the most practical solution for my unfortunate condition by now?"

His naked body feels absolutely amazing as he rotates his hips and fingers at the same pace, pushing me further into the soft mattress under me with each further thrust. I almost scream when his free hand is cupping my testicles with a swift grip from behind, which hang heavy like ripe apricots from arousal inside his palm now, and he starts squeezing and playing them like an instrument, between hard, fast and almost violent pumps of his fingers against my gland simultaneously.

I can't breathe! Please, more! The intense shocks of ecstasy are entirely robbing me of any rational thought and even with his blazing hot touches now I still don't reach the climax that I badly crave!

The flat of his tongue is joining the lustful torture, thoroughly licking the light sheen of my fresh sweat along my spine away, spreading his saliva on my skin as if marking me over every spot where his tongue is licking and lips sucking on me.

"Prom ... -please-, I need to ... Gods! " It doesn't take me long at all to start begging for release. My own masturbation session before has made everything else that is following after already worse and unbearable with this potent scorching heat! I need to find completion! "Please ..."

I press myself up to him with a keen groan, my arms rising up to hold onto the fluffy pillows above for my dear life, trying to make him understand how much I _need_ him! That I need to feel his cock inside of me right now! Or else I die!

But then, in a sudden, swift motion, Prom shifts away and removes his body heat from me, leaving me to feel absolutely empty inside. I hear myself breathe heavily as if I've run thousands of miles, completely and utterly sexually aroused and unsatisfied.

Gods, no.

Not this time.

I won't tolerate him doing this to me again.

I instantly turn my head to the other side, meeting his intense gaze at once and I narrow my eyes at him, fighting for breath to speak out my ardent desire.

"My cock is about to explode if I don't get to climax soon." I inform him with clear intent. Knowing he'll get my hint without any more explanation.

"I know.", he says, a mischievous expression plastered on his beautiful face and I find myself to badly needing to kiss it away.

"I warn you, finish what you started." I growl back at him in a raspy, breathless voice when I see that he doesn't make a move. My cock killing me.

Gods, I swear if he doesn't continue I'll die from all the build up sexual tension focused in my ass!

This time I'm priviledged to watch his breathtaking face as a low and sexy chuckle escapes his soft looking lips. "Nope. Not yet. I need to bring you higher..."

Higher? What does he mean?

With a frustrated grunt I heavily lift and turn myself around on my back to take some relief from the slightly cooler air around me, throwing an arm over my eyes in my desperation to hide my flushed face and the begging look in my eyes from him. "Stop sounding so mysterious. Holy hell ... just what exactly are you doing to me? You are killing my male bits off ..."

"I know.", is his only humorous answer.

"Why all of this?" I need to clear my throat to get my next words out, sounding raspy to my ears. "To what end?"

"Heh, haven't you figured this out yet?", his damnable bright blue eyes flash amused at me.

I snort a dry laugh. "For real? Prom, forgive me when I find myself in all respects incapable to think clearly. Just in case you haven't noticed, my brain decided to wobble downwards to occupy the quite spacious head of my engorged cock, which by the way is badly hurting to find release, all thanks to you by the way. This makes my skull-brain go out of commission. 'Prom' and 'sex', in a repeating cycle of maddening strings of perverted thoughts, are the only words that my cock-brain is able to ejaculate forth at this moment. It's absolutely crazy! I'm so madly in lust with you Prom! My brain can't stop fantasizing about us fucking each other raw all over this bed. Hell, I want you so damn much right now I don't even care what we do as long as we find release!"

Prom laughs in such a gorgeous way, saying one more time: "I know."

Damn it all to hell, even his soft laughter is turning me on so much! Everything tingles and burns in all the right places, and I just want to reach out to him to make him mine...

"I swear to all that is precious to me Prompto Argentum, if you utter one more time 'I know' at me, I'll stop honoring whatever purpose you have for torturing me to such lengths and I'm going to fuck you several times over straight into this spacious bed of youres, until you don't know where up and down is anymore! By Etro, so help me.", I growl at him in warning, trembling hands clentched into the blankets as if they could convince Prom to finally relieve me of my hunger for his cock.

Another soft laughter from him reaches my ears and I shift my position to the side to fully face him, hissing a little from the pleasurable friction when my heavy hardness slides against the cool sheets. My threat seems to do nothing to deter Prom from his intent, instead he looks like if he's thoroughly enjoying himself to watch me coming apart with fierce desire and longing for him in front of his eyes.

Since when did he turn into such a sadist?

I narrow my eyes to slits, and ask in disgruntelment: "Who are you really? Where is my Prom?"

He lifts his hand to hide the sudden snorting laughter behind it, his eyes twinkling at me with humor. The look in his eyes flirting and teasing and so incredibly attractive.

Stop being so alluring, damn it!

Then I follow his movements as he makes himself comfortable, matching my position in bed with his slender but strong looking legs to face me on the opposite side, not leaving much room between us on purpose. If I wanted I could just reach out and pull him towards me to kiss the hell out of his beautiful smiling lips.

"Noct, you hurt me. Have I really changed that much?... I hadn't noticed."

A chuckle.

I narrow my eyes even further.

I can't tell if he is mocking me or being serious. "Cut it out. This has something to do with awakening my powers, am I right? While touching myself earlier I felt a strong flow of sexual energy shoot up from my spine, I'm not ignorant of what is happening to me. But please, tell me this insanity won't go on for another hour, or else you can say to my sentient brain farewell forever."

Prom smirks in a sexy way and waggling his eyebrows at me. "It's actually interesting you mention that. I remember you saying once that we wouldn't need a brain to enjoy sex."

Despite my sexual frustration I hear myself laughing outlout. "Damn, you are really good. You didn't forget that one, did you?"

"Nope, I didn't." He has the audacity to stick his tongue out at me.

At the alluring sight of his agile tongue wiggling at me, I can't stop the instant yearning moan which comes out of my throat. Yearning to have a good taste of his tongue against my own again. Those kisses before were amazing, but clearly not enough. Despite the fun banter between us I'm on the verge to just jump right on him and take what I so fiercly desire. A desire that is thankfully mutual, judging by his erect and quite tempting penis which is very close to my hand ... so very, very close.

My fingers twitch and I swallow down my vicious urge to touch him.

To distract myself, I say to him in warning: "You better stick your tongue back in to where it belongs. Or else I'll find other, more interesting places for you to stick it into."

„Hmmn... you give me interesting ideas. Thank you." The old Prom would have been surprised, but this new version of him is only smiling serenely, strangely reminding me of his older brother Dius, while replying: "Frustrated much? Hn, yes, that's good. We need more of that. But you're still able to talk, so obviously I'll need to step up my efforts to make you completely unable to think coherently."

I prop up my elbow on the pillow to support my head with my hand, sounding confident but feeling anything but when I say: "I think you're going to fail. After the things you did to me already, it can't get more insane than what I had to endure today. And you see me still talking and thinking straight, so …", I'm grinning confidently.

He lifts his hand up to look at his perfectly manicured fingernails, blowing fake air at them as if in the process of polishing them. "Heh ... Noct, I definitely think you underestimate me. You don't have a clue yet of what I'm really capable off."

"It takes proof to convince me of that, not talking." I growl at him huskily, the arousal flaming up again as I dare him to show what he's got, the growing anticipation making me heavily hot and bothered again.

I swallow hard when Prom's eyes are slowly caressing my entire body up and just as he reaches my hard cock I feel it twitch as if in greeting. What a traitor. And then he shifts his blatant stares of desire upwards to intently look back into my eyes, and by God ... my whole body does tremble with heady thrills of lust when he whispers softly, almost too soft for me to hear: "Turn back on your stomach."

Hoping that we will finally get down to the juicy parts, I watch impatiently how he lifts himself up to a sitting position and I find it very hard not to stare for a long moment with longing at his nether regions.

Seeing his nude-shaved, heavy erection bouncing with every slight movement he makes, is stimulating my own cock beyond bounds. I personally never liked on men when their penis fully enveloped by pubic hair. Of course, everyone has their own tastes. But Prom's male member is exactly what I like, what I love about his groin area. The pale-pink complexion of his entire length and the shaved area around it, only a small patch of golden trimmed hair above the base, give him a very clean and a very tasty look. The slightly curved shape and the attractive fully round engorged head is absolutely perfect for my tastes. I would say he's slightly bigger and longer than the avarage size. Just gorgeous. Honestly, on a delectable looking cock like his, I could lick and suck on for hours, every day, all years long, as I know from previous experience how smooth he feels and how clean and good he tastes inside my mouth every time.

But today, I want to have this dazzling looking cock thrusting inside of me so badly ...

From the look in his eyes he seems to have a good guess of what I'm thinking about.

Prom is ... simply too beautiful for words, everything about his more mature and confident self is too much for me to bear.

If he noticed my yearning gaze at his genitals, he doesn't comment on it.

What in the world have I turned into? I'm obsessed with continuous, insistent thoughts of sex right now.

What is happening to me? This surely can't be healthy.

Giving another shudder of anticipation, I turn back to lie on my stomach.

I feel the bed dipping and moving when Prom is sliding down from it. Not long after, I feel the bed dip again with his weight.

I can hear something, a bottle maybe, being opened with squeeking sounds of turning motions.

When something wet and cool is dribbling over my back I give a startle and a small yelp from the cold.

Hands start to caress the naked skin of my back in tender motions, trailing and simultaneously spreading the oily substance along my spine and a delightful groan comes out of me, letting Prom know that I love what he does. I hadn't had a massage in a long time and after all the strainful events this morning his magical hands are godsend in addition to deeply arousing to me.

The oil he's using is smelling of musky sandalwood and citrus and I groan out again when the heady fragrance is reaching my nostrils.

Unconsciously I let out a prolonged purr when his skilled fingers press against some sensitive spots. This is pure Heaven.

His hands disappear for a moment and not a second after I hear him rubbing some more of the slippery liquid on his hands before they come back to slide over the defined contours of my back. Those amazing hands take their time, spoiling me, as if memorizing every chiseled definition of the muscles beneath them.

After some minutes of glorious massage that makes my limbs go completely slack with relaxation, the palm of his hands take another tour, this time downwards, over the indentation in my lower back just above my taut buttocks and he draws a low sound of pleasure out of me when he resumes and focuses the massage directly on my firm butt.

Every inch of my skin and flesh and muscle near my anus is such an erogenous place today that it doesn't take long for me to pant heavy moans and breaths out against the pillow, my eyes having already closed off without me noticing to enjoy the madly exciting sensations.

And then I give a jolt of surprise when I feel the bed around me dipping down again, as one of his bare legs comes to lie on the other side of my body and then I get to feel his entire naked and erect nether regions sitting snugly and comfortably on the small space inbetween my upper legs, where my taut buttcheeks begin to mound. I can only groan in curiousity, pushing back to meet his groin, wondering if he's entering me soon as his soft testicles are nestling right against mine and my brain goes into overload mode. His warm, oily hands suddenly part my buttcheeks apart, his smooth, hot and slippery erect cock starts sliding along the crack in erotic motions up and down ... up and down ... the light thrusting and rubbing movements only managing to tease my mind with lewd images of proper intercourse between us, which makes me go absolutely mad under him already...

He stopps my writhing hips with his hands, then cupping my butt with spread fingers, the thumbs of his strong hands kneading in slow but firm circles along the crack, spreading my buttcheeks even wider apart and letting his cock slide over my anus once, twice, then pushing the head of his erection with more force against the stretched opening as his thrusts become stronger with each oily slide and I'm starting to groan keenly from deep of my belly when I feel his lubricated fingers pushing inside of me, resuming to finger-fuck me, electrifying every cell of my body again!

I can only sob now from all the sensual imput, the ecstasy now really starting to cloud my mind, everything he now does to me even more intense than it had felt before. The massage before, the scents surrounding us, the heat, his own groans, his teasing touches, his fingers inside, everything! And I can't help but push my bottom eagerly against his relentlessly thrusting fingers, needing to feel him deeper and more intense inside! He starts widening my opening in rotating motions again, adding a third or even fourth finger and doing the same insane circling motions with it, which make my head spin in unadultarated lust for him. I'm too far gone now, continuing to silently moan keenly against the sheets under me at the welcome insistent intrusion, breathing heavily, but at the same time feeling so deeply relaxed and sexually heavy in my body that I don't feel any discomfort at being stretched that wide by now.

Not even my own finger was able to reproduce the same blazing pleasure as he is able to evoke in my body right now.

„Hell ... Prom ... what are you doing to me? I'm melting... please, end this... more..."A whispery, lusty moan escapes me.

He turns my head to mush with all the following new sansations and I can only reward his efforts with constant groans of appreciation and of bliss. Then I feel him suddenly leaning forward, his upperbody upon mine while he's rubbing his entire oily skin all over my back. I can even feel his erect nipples teasing and stroking lightly over my skin with each one of his movements. It's so erotic! Even the tip of his hairstrands are tickling me and adding to the sexual stimulation, the sounds of his heavy breaths in my ear arousing me to no end and I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, not capable to compute all those simultaneous erotic impressions at the same time.

His soft and damp lips and his agile wet tongue follow after, and as he promised to me before, he starts to eat me up with the flat of his tongue on every spot that he can reach. And that's the moment where I feel myself literally floating up in the air a little bit, one of his further magic abilities that he revealed to me just now I guess, but I'm too mindless with arousal as to care how he's able to do this as he lifts my upper body only so much high up so that his arms can comfortably come around me to stroke all over my chest. He spreads the massage oil on my front as well. My back bends sensually towards him, holding my chest up as an invitation to touch me everywhere at once, and without hesitation his swift fingers are flicking and pinching on my hard nipples and I give a keen moan in response enjoying every spike of pleasure that I get out of his spicy caresses. Everything he does to me now is overwhelming my senses to the max.

The oily, hot and heavy cock nestling and rocking slowly inbetween my buttocks, the veins and the contours of his penis thrusting again and again against the sensitive entrance there and making my anus clench and unclench unpatiently against his flesh. His own chest is hovering just an inch over my back so that the tip of his nipples keep teasing my sensible skin periodically, his hands doing lustful things to the area of my chest. And his lips ... Gods his lips and tongue are suddenly reaching inside the shell of my ear, kissing, licking and sucking on my earlobe with abandon, and then he opens his mouth wide to suck my entire sensitive ear inside his wet heat and I buck up against him with a husky cry, feeling close to come.

„Prom... please...!" I whisper, my whole body and mind focused on his ministrations.

His breaths puff hotly and harshly against the damp skin of my ear while I push my bottom hungrily up to meet each one of those hard thrusts of his oily cock and suddenly an absolute animalistic need takes over me to get the maddening velvet tip of his arousal deep inside of me right now!

Needing, wanting, craving him to just fuck me into the mattress!

I'm sobbing from the fierce, carnal desire that I feel!

"Prom!", I openly beg now, I can't help it.

I'm writhing under him to intensify all sensations. All these excesses of impressions are too much, overloading my body, the urge to orgasm too strong now and before I know what is happening, he rubs himself fully over my back in a downward motion, his hands gripping my hips in an almost painful grip to restrict the movements of my hips completely, and then the flat of his wet tongue is suddenly lapping at my quivering entrance, then positioning the tip of it and pushing straight inside the loose ring of my hole!

Oh God, yes!

I'm literally screaming a hoarse cry out from the shocking painful bolts of lust, moaning his name continuously like I've never done before, while he's doing all these lecherous things, firmer and deeper inside with his slick tongue. He's spearing me apart in a wonderful way, touching the sensitive walls inside over and over, licking and sucking for a long, long time, over and over, sucking with his lips, flicking his tongue inside and out, piercing me with the tip of it in a simulation of what his cock would be doing to me and I start to feel how my mind is in the process of shutting down.

Only in passing do I realize how good I made Prom feel every time I did this to him. No wonder he was fainting the first time he climaxed from it. When one is as aroused as much as I am now, rimming becomes raw and absolutely hot! His flexible tongue knows exactly where to lick, to push, to thrust and to suck. His saliva and the oil serve as lubrication and I feel so damn good down there, so slippery and erotic whenever his tongue moves inside and around my anus. I never would have believed that I would love what he's doing to me to that extent ... holy hell ... I wish he would fuck me properly now, I just can't ride on these pleasures forever without any kind of release!

I groan in disappointment when I feel him pulling his tongue out, leaving me empty and wanting, my hole quivering for more. But before I can give a sound of protest, he comes back up to murmur breathlessly into my ear: "You taste divine..." And then all of a sudden he pushes the head of his cock inside, then out, then in, then out, again and again, penetrating and massaging my sensitive opening without fully entering. Only stretching the constricting muscles further to adapt to his size.

But alone the erotic feeling of his gorgeous, smooth and velvet erect head playing with my hole is making me groan and sob and I keep wishing for more of such evocative sensations! It feels as if he is testing the waters with me, as if asking with his rocking motions for permission to enter.

I can only push weakly back against him in response, too lost with passion to do or say anything else.

I don't know what to do with myself, not able to talk at all, when he finally lifts my trembling hips up with a strength I hadn't known he had, and thrusts his entire length slowly until it's fully inside. His hand sneaks immediately around me to hold tightly on the base of my cock.

Please no! I was just about to find release!

A lusty growl escapes me, pressing my forehead hard against the pillows under me and squeezing my eyes tightly shut from the sheer need to climax my brain out!

Sweet hell ... I can't stop sobbing, lost in the pleasure he gives me as he starts to thrust softly and then firmer and and deeper and then harder and sharper inside my stretched channel, feeling every single aroused vein of his and slight curve and buldge of his flesh rubbing against my inner walls, the side of his engorged head rubbing erotically again and again over my pleasure gland!

If I would be able to talk, I would beg for him to let me ejaculate in fountains, because I don't think I'm in any state to hold out any longer without losing my thread to reality.

As if to spite me, he slows down his movements, and instead starts to stroke my cock in a strong but leisure pace, slowly, very slowly, enough to make me wild but not enough to make me reach my much needed orgasm.

His other hand is reaching around me to pull me tightly towards his chest, his heavy aroused breaths tickling my ear as he whispers teasingly: "Have I promised too much? Let's see if you can still think clearly after I'm done with you ..."

"Aaaahnn ..."

I bite into my pillow, groaning deeply, because this new position, as he pushes me firmly into the blankets with our bodies pressed tightly together, allows for a much deeper and intimate penetration. My head starts seriously spinning as he continues to drive his cock in slow but long thrusts, rubbing in all the right places time and again, while his hand keeps pleasuring my painful erection in a steady but much too slow pace and making it impossible for me to be able to achieve any true satisfaction.

I feel so full and widely stretched, and the rotating movements of his hips are always on the verge of undoing me with their long and painfully gentle massage against my prostata. The only thing that I can do now is to grasp the pillows in front of me tightly, my hands trembling with newly awakened fierce need for him to claim me properly when a pleasure so strong again is rocking through me that I'm about to cry because of it! I can already feel tears burning behind my closed eyelids.

Gods ...this feels out of this world. What is he doing?

In my delirious state I hadn't noticed that he moves his thumb over the erect head of my cock as if writing something on it and I vaguely can hear him murmuring something in a foreign language that I'm not able to catch fully, and a fire so strong builds up inside my groin and inside my anus that I almost scream from the intense pain and pleasure when his hips start to thrust long, deep and this time hard and fast into me, almost being too fierce, his hand stroking me with swift and firm strokes and all of a sudden it's becoming too much, and too good, too painful, too mind-blowing, that I simply need to cry out his name when I feel the strongest orgasm taking me over that I've ever felt!

The ring of muscles around Prom's cock are spasming and clamping down on him from the most potent ecstasy heating up the bottom of my spine and amplifying the erotic friction still happening on my over-sensitive walls from the inside.

What's this? Am I dying?

Holy hell, I don't even have any time to catch my breath or enjoy the aftermath, because Prom does continue the penetration at a slow but firm pace yet again.

And now I feel myself starting to glow with what I think would be sexual energy.

The pain and pleasure of heat I can feel slithering up inside my spine is shooting way up to the top of my head!

Prom's soft testicles hit my bottom with every further maddening thrust of his hips. I'm barely conscious now of his hot oily hands now pinching my nipples between massaging my entire chest area, pulling me fiercly against him. The burning pleasure in my gut only growing but never ending. Only in passing am I aware that I didn't spill any seeds yet over the sheets. Realizing, that I just had my very first dry climax.

And just when everything becomes too much, again he quickens up his pace, his hand stroking with intent along the skin of my still engorged hardness, hips driving his slick cock deep and fast into me, and I hold my breath when another glorious, dry orgasm is overwhelming my body!

I can only cry at how amazing this feels! I just have no words for it...

I'm lost. Utterly lost into a sea of mind-blogging ecstasy.

What Prom does to me should not be possible to feel as a human being. It's too strong, too good, too pure.

I'm drunk on all the sexual pleasure I experience, and I just don't know what to do with my shaking hands when just in that moment I reach once again a strong climax without ejaculating any of my seed!

I'm simply blown away!

I didn't know that something like this could happen to men at all.

Again and again Prom follows the same formula, slowing down, as if focusing all his life energy, and then all of a sudden releasing everything of it inside of me, for when I reach an orgasm to be absorbed by my own slowly awakening alien force.

I can feel my powers slowly returning to me and the realization is only heightening my experience of lust! Over and over the same brain-melting pleasure! It's so pleasureable in fact, that with each release it starts to become too painful.

And heaven and hell, I don't want him to stop! Ever!

Sometime, after my tenth orgasm or so I stop to count, my brain shutting itself entirely down and surrendering to all the overwhelming sensations in my boiling body fluids.

Prom repeates his healing technique and I can feel him growing more and more tired with each orgasm that I reach.

The insane climaxes have long stopped being painful, instead I feel now a sudden shift in my heart.

A shift in the air around us as it starts to vibrate with something, no, with _someone_ very powerful.

I can feel my inner power slowly taking charge over my mind.

And I welcome it with all I have, euphoria taking over me at the familiar feeling of its tendrils licking and reaching out to Prom.

My eyes burn up, tears blurring my vision, indicating that they have changed their color from gray-blue to a magical glowing red.

The carnal desire inside me suddenly spiking up tenfold, the need to be claimed by Prom slowly subsiding the more sexual energy my body takes in. It's strange to feel satiated in one way, but hungry in a completely different way!

To suddenly feel how my desire transforms into the mad need to claim him now back!

When another, mind-shattering orgasm is making me completely drunk on him from too much and too potent energy exchanged between us, I suddenly find myself being able to turn myself around and to pull my soulmate softly out of me, ceasing his healing penetration as my alien powers don't need them anymore.

Prom seems startled, trying to awaken from some kind of self-induced trance, absolutely shocked to see my glowing red eyes staring seducingly back at him and I'm not even surprised to hear my 'other' self, the personality which is currently fused with the consciousness of my alien power, communicating with him via telepathy: "My beloved, it's enough. Now it's your turn for pleasure. I want to reward you for giving me your gift of life."

Prom gives a shudder immediately after the fully awakend tendrils of power are fusing into his skin to search for his inner core. His lips open widely, crying out in sexual rapture. I can feel how madly aroused he was this entire time, without reaching his own climax even once. The healing and my pleasure the only precious thoughts in the forefront of his selfless mind...

His body and beautiful face still taut with tension and the hard earned need for self-control.

I smile up at him softly, finally understanding why he needed to tease and rile me sexually up so much before, my hands stroke the sides of his face in tender motions, sending him further thoughts full of love.

"Let go, my beloved. There is no need for you to hold back anymore.", I whisper gently.

I can see from the expression in his eyes how relieved he seems to be now and my gasp of pleasant surprise is instantly silenced as he literally throws himself at me and his eager lips meet mine in a passionate, raw tongue-kiss.

"Noct .. hell... ", he moans deeply against my hungry tongue, "Aaahnnn, yesss! Oh fuck! Please! Please hurry up, I need you so damn much it hurts!" he cries out his own hunger when my tendrils already make their way down to his sphincter to pierce inside and to prepare him for me.

It's like a barrier has been broken down completely, because Prom is not holding himself back anymore at all, reminding me blissfully at his old self, and only now do I understand the full extent of his strong control over himself. I can clearly taste the longing and yearning he had for me on his tongue as it is battling with my own for constant pleasures. The sheer need to make love to me is palpable from his blazing kisses, blatant from his clutching fingers that leave crescent trails of his nails all over my skin. I'm inflamed with his overwhelming love and lust for me, and it's only a matter of seconds until I get our positions reversed, the engorged head of my arousal already pushing inside his hot channel, claiming him back with all I have.

The strong intent of fullfilling all of his erotic desires readable in my eyes as they continue to drink in the beauty of his sensual form lying and writhing under me.

My inner power and I suddenly feel proud and are delighted at the intimate knowledge that such a strong, beautiful immortal being is our bonded mate for eternity.

We deeply wish to give back every single bolt of pleasure he gave us just minutes before.

"Noct! AHhhnnn! More...!"

We watch his beautiful face transform into a puddle of unadulterated sexual appetite as he throws his head deep into the sheets behind him, the grip of his hands on my bottom forcing my hips to move faster and we growl darkly at him in an almost possessive way when we lift his right leg up to penetrate his anus even more intense. We slam our groin with all the force that we have inside, but still careful of not hurting him, feeling spurned on by Prom's maddening cries and needs for carnal pleasures, knowing from his reactions where to aim and how hard to measure my forceful thrusts.

Prom's moans have long turned into harsh panting breaths, his nails scratch in electrifying trails our entire back when they dig painfully into our skin, but my inner force and I are so focused on giving our soulmate the highest ecstasy, that 'we' don't even care about any form of pain that we might feel right now.

My tendrils of power focus on all of his erogenous zones, stroking his cock, stroking his pleasure gland in the opposite pace as my erection does, the tendrils giving him the sensations of pinching his nipples and sucking on his neck simultaneously while my hands hold his hips tightly to keep my thrusts into him steady and firm and ardently carnal in their sexual intent.

I greedily watch how his back bends with a keen cry as I pull his hips higher to me and press his legs as wide apart to each side of his body as possible, changing our position to push my cock relentlessly into him from further above. He seems to love the new position very much, because I hear him whimper and whine in rapture whenever I pull out fully and push inside with measured but fierce movements, my aroused erection appearing and disappearing in erotic motions while the tendrils aid my arousal to always send and amplify the blazing heat on his sensitive bundle of nerves inside.

"Noct, I'm ... oh fuck!" My eager gaze is following the feverish movements of his trembling legs, his arms rised far above his head to grip the pillows there in a tight grip, his back bending backwards and his now glowing white eyes staring unfocused somewhere far, far away. And by God, I deeply, madly, badly enjoy watching him coming apart when he reaches his most violent climax before my very eyes in the most beautiful, sexual and sensual way I've ever had the pleasure to witness him. His seed are gushing out with force and spurting in long shots over his belly and chest and my hand goes straight down to stroke and milk his red, pulsing cock. I absolutely love the hot feel of his seed all over my hand and I can only greedily continue to watch how his writhing sexual figure under me seduces me as his arousal is shooting out more and more ejaculation over his perfect sculpted upper body.

Not able to hold myself back any longer, with a wild groan of need I bow my head down and start to lick off the milky white substance away from his skin, my sudden greed and possessiveness growing stronger the more I get to taste of his essence, feeling how even his seed transform themselves into energy as soon as they touch my tongue, and he moans in such rapture, pushing my head firmly towards him as the flat of my tongue hungrily spreads his wet essence around his nipples only to suck them dry shortly after.

"Oh hell ... Noct, this is so damn arousing, you don't know how much you turn me on right now ... just don't stop, please …"

Our eyes meet silently for a short moment. My glowing red eyes attempting to devour his entire being.

„As if I could ever stop now when I got a proper taste of you again..." I murmur breathlessly against his damp skin.

My trembling hands are caressing over the huge puddle of ejaculation and then continue to spread the sticky and sexy substance as if it were a lotion all over his body, and both of us groan out in delight, feeling connected in our growing sexual haze when our lips meet again and again in amazing kisses imbued fully with mindless desire.

And then I pull him up with me as I shift my body to the edge of our bed to put my feet down on the ground in a sitting position, and then I turn Prom around with his back facing me to push down his hips on my hungry and hard erection. I keep him steady as he spreads his legs wide apart to support his weight, his hands clutching and holding himself tightly on my strong thighs as I thrust high up with force while he pushes his hips down to meet me in a heady and fast pace.

My tendrils are once more focused all over his body, my lips kissing and tongue licking over his shoulder up to his sweaty neck and I take a deep breath of his fresh and clean scent mixed with the maddening musky and spicy scent of his seed spread over his skin. He supports his head on my shoulder, engaging me sideways into a lusty battle of hot tongues and one of my hands sneaks around him to pleasure his firm testicles and to stroke his beautiful cock to completion.

"I could do this all day and night to you .. you are so addicting ... I love making love to you .. I love you so madly ..." I murmur into his ear full of passion.

His face, neck and chest are all flushed red from sexual arousal, enhancing his beauty even more, his white glowing eyes glazed from the intense bond and ecstasy that we feel, and something inside his eyes is making me snap with overwhelming lust, because in that moment, I take a hold of him and throw him down on the bed. And then he shouts out hoarsly my name when I suddenly go down on him and take his entire tasty looking length into my mouth! I just need to eat all of him right now, I want to taste every inch of him, suck his brains out and fill the empty place with raw, unadulterated ecstasy instead!

"Ohmygodyes, this feels so damn good! Noct, I'm so close!"

My tongue is suddenly doing things to him that I never had thought to be possible, my fingers entering him from behind, piercing him in addition to my alien tentdrils to give him as much pleasure as possible.

"Noct!"

And without further warning he chokes out a keen cry, filling my mouth and throat up with another of his violent orgasms and I moan greedily around his cock, my red eyes never leaving his as I swallow down every single drop that comes out of him. His hands clutch my hair in an almost painful grip. But I don't care, not when I can read the utterly lost expression on his face from the fierce sensations around his quivering body.

„Gods … Noct.. I can't, this is too much … too good!" He whines, clawing with his fingers desperately around him to hold onto something.

And I eagerly take in the various erotic expressions playing inside his glowing eyes.

I don't fully understand yet what exactly happens between us today, but only one look into each others eyes and we know that _this_ was not enough.

We know we both want and need more of it.

That both of us are completely insatiable and that we are going to make love and to fuck all evening and night long, until one of is passing out...

How I love him.

How badly I crave him.

Deeply.

Madly.

Prom belongs to me.

We belong together.

For eternity.

**...**

* * *

To be continued.


	17. Know Thyself - Noctis POV

Hey everyone,

next part is now up. The cold that I did somehow manage to catch is still going strongly, so I'm not as quick with my updates as I'd like to be.

**WARNING: the second part of this chapter contains mature sexual content! m/m yaoi, so please, mature readers only!**

I can't wait for next weekend, when Tabata hopefully reveals some more info about the enemies in FFXV! Hopefully we get to hear the name of the hooded villain that I named 'Dius' in my stories. I want to know more of his motivations and powers *_*! Btw, curious of what has become of Dius in this story? Next chapter will reveal some interesting things about him ... stay tuned ;)!

Have fun reading everyone! And as always thank you all very much for your support and reviews, I appreciate them! Keep them coming, they are so delicious ;_;!

**ben4kevin**: hohoho, glad to read you enjoyed it, I tried my best not to emasculate Noctis for him to become too much OOC. ;)

**Lisa**: thanks again, my dear! I replied to your comment via Deviantart. I'll write you again as soon as I can :)! 333 enjoy this chapter!

**Annie**: hey, glad to read from you so fast again! And lol at your comment to me writing you back, haha. Is it really that rare that authors reply to their readers comments? Thanks a lot for your compliments, I'm glad to hear that the previous chapter contained my best written lemon yet. I would try to reach new 'levels' of writing (lol) but I have to keep this plot M-rated for FFnet ;). Oh, my favorite homoerotica authors? Phew, Annie, you did catch me offguard now (blushes). It's been a long time since I read something really good and I just can't keep the names in my head for some reason. I don't really have any favorites, I just like to read various things and various stories. One name that is spontaneously coming up in my mind is **raythereign. **Her stories are really great as I enjoy to read this kind of mix of supernatural themes very much. Maybe you know of her already? :) Thanks again Annie, till next time!

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen - Know Thyself- Noctis POV**

**...**

I wake up to the wonderful smell of coffee and breakfast.

A sleepy smile stretches over my lips and I wince a little when the dry skin of said lips start to burn painfully.

And then I do remember why, and my body gives a shudder of pleasure at the sudden flood of erotic memories resurfacing in my mind.

Still smiling, I rub with the tip of my fingers carefully over the abused lips. Sweet heaven ... those hungry, biting kisses Prom gave me last night were insane... even my jaw is hurting from kissing him back as passionately.

Forget my lips. As I try to turn on my back, my thighs, hips, the whole spine and my butt are hurting and stinging like hell all over.

Prom and I have been absolutely mindless with desire, insomuch we hadn't noticed how his fingernails scratched my entire back raw... and if the pain on the area of my anus is of any indication, then I don't want to know how he is fairing this morning. Hopefully he has a lot of healing potions ready for us.

But I do welcome the glorious pain, because it's reminding me intensely of all the lewd and wonderful things he and I did yesterday... I wasn't even able to count how often we had fallen all over each other and how often we made each other climax only to start the procedure from the beginning all over again. And he and I loved every second of it.

Honestly, my mind was shattered by the amount of pleasures that we've shared in such a short amount of time. Yesterday I've definitely learnt how insatiable Prom can be and I hope it keeps staying that way.

Forever.

It wasn't until after we finally fell completely exhausted into a heap of tired limbs, aching everywhere in sweet pain and fulfilled arousal, that we finally and mutually agreed to go to sleep.

From the corner of my eyes I can see Prom moving around the small kitchen area, and my smile grows even brighter when I turn my head to watch him properly.

Speaking of muscles...

I let out a soft sigh full of appreciation.

Prom looks breathtakingly handsome this morning.

I think I'll never grow tired of watching him.

He didn't bother to dress himself and I drink in with eager eyes his beautiful nude form bustling around the oven to finish preparing our breakfast.

Whatever he makes smells absolutely mouth-watering.

Somehow, it seems to be impossible for me to stop smiling. So, with another soft smile on my face I roll over to the edge of our bed and stand slowly up on my bare feet. And then I'm smiling in a sly way as I try out my awakened powers to warp myself right behind him, reaching out for his slender hips.

He is gasping in surprise at first, but then he turns his head to look at me with an answering bright smile.

And I'm smiling lovingly when I wrap my arms around him to pull his warm body firmly to my chest, enjoying the shock of pleasure when our skins are touching.

"Hi." I greet him softly, kissing his cheek.

"Hey yourself," he whispers in return, grasping my chin with his hand to kiss my abused lips very tenderly.

"We kind of stink," I say teasingly, hinting that I would love nothing more than to enjoy ourselves soaking inside that hot spring outside of these cave walls.

Prom is smirking teasingly back. "Hn. That we do." His forefinger is caressing a few teasing circles around my right nipple. "But we should really drink some healing potions first and probably eat something... let's not pretend that we won't continue to exhaust ourselves in sexual pleasures again today."

My eyes flash with awakened intent to devour him from head to toe again. For a long while we can't take our eyes from another, gazing full of love into each others smiling eyes.

This what we have now is exactly what both of us have longed for.

Days and weeks where we can shut out the world around us and focus solely onto each other.

Prom is literally glowing all over. I know I'm repeating myself, but even with his blonde hair in disarray, he never looked more beautiful as he does to me this very moment. I'm struck speechless, silently worshiping his presence and body as I hold him in my arms, marveling at how truly gorgeous he has become over the time we were separated.

I turn him fully around to embrace him, my arms holding him in a tight hug against me for a few long minutes. He's nuzzling his face against my neck and I just hug him even tighter to me when the breaths of his soft chuckle are tickling my skin.

Words cannot express the sheer magnitude of happiness that I feel, to be able to hold him in my arms again after everything that has happened to us.

After a while, I finally utter the words that I should have said to him from the very beginning, with a bittersweet smile on my lips I whisper, "Welcome back home..." I squeeze him firmly once, twice, before I shift back a little to have another eager look at his eerily handsome face.

His eyes turn very soft when they catch mine. "Thanks Noct... it's literally heaven to be home again. You are the reason I'm back. I love you." I feel how his hands are tenderly caressing my back and a purr of enjoyment is escaping my lips.

When I see him smiling so lovingly at me, it's still unbelievable how this close connection between us allows us to exchange our emotions non verbally.

And then suddenly, I can't help but become sad for all the lost time and opportunities between us. "I love you even more. I did miss you terribly," I say, the yearning in my voice clearly audible. "When I think it's been only about four weeks for me without you, I can't imagine how long two years must have felt for you."

At this his tender gaze changes into one of intense longing. "It's been hell for me without you. My training kind of helped to keep myself together for most of the time, but as soon as night came and I was lying all alone in my bed, the waiting to finally meet you again became unbearable. But... as I said, the past is behind us. We are here now. You are here." He leans forward to softly kiss my lips once more.

I can't help but feel very proud of him. I don't know if I would have been as strong as him to hold on for so long. So I stroke over his soft cheek very gently.

"I truly need to apologize to you, Prom. Yesterday I certainly did act like an idiot, didn't I? When in truth, it had been me, the one who couldn't be by your side when you needed me the most..." I shift my own gaze down, feeling all my guilty feelings about not having been able to protect him on that night resurfacing with vehemence.

His fingers touch my chin, pushing it up so that he can look into my eyes. "Shhh... it was a lesson you and I had to learn. And look at us now, we came out much stronger than before. Not the past is relevant for us, but the present, right? And trust me, I'll make sure this time around your powers will always have the means to refill themselves no matter the situation. We just weren't prepared for the things that happened on that fateful night."

"But still... I shouldn't have-" I start saying, but his fingers are already pushing my chin up to close my mouth shut.

I see him sending me this beautiful signature smile of his, the brightness of his perfect row of white teeth almost blinding me with his beauty. "Noct, this was my fate. Our fate. It needed to happen. No more guilty feelings over this, alright? This is a new beginning."

We gaze into each others blue eyes, his several shades lighter than mine and glowing in their intensity, and I place my slightly shaking hands on each side of his blushed cheeks to observe the changes he had gone through while away for so long. Only because I've memorized all the imperfections, all lines and freckles on his face already, do I notice how many of them have completely disappeared.

"You have become even more handsome since the last time I saw you... your skin, I mean you look... forgive me if this might sound strange, but you look completely healthy. Energized, if that makes any sense to you. You know, the healthy look of a child, the rosy cheeks, their glowing and taut young skin... you look exactly like that, which is not really normal for guys at our age."

Prom is smiling brightly at my compliments. "That's because this is exactly what happened to me back in Accoris. I'm completely healed from the inside out, like we imagine a healthy young child would be. As you may know, in the course of our lives we accumulate a lot of invisible ailments as we grow in a steady pace older and weaker. And it's because of my inheritance that I got the chance to get rid of everything that stood in the way of growing into my true potential. Once I will hit thirty, I'll stop to age - as Chronus in the far past once did. I'm buzzing with healthy etheric energy inside. I feel already like a fully charged battery and truthfully, I somewhat begin to fear what will become of me once the Crystal of Chronos is fully activated. But it isn't just me, Noct. How I look now should be normal for everyone living on this planet - it only looks not normal to you because the heritage of humanity is full of corrupted genetics and we still haven't learnt in general to take proper care of our energy bodies and mind, which in turn would influence the appearance of our physical bodies."

"I see. Yeah, that makes sense. It's something that my father hinted at when I last talked to him..." I caress lost in my own thoughts over his cheeks, not able to stop staring in awe at the perfection that his skin has become. After some minutes of silence, I send him a teasing smile. "The female population would kill to have such soft and clean skin as you have now."

I get a snort of laughter out of him in answer, but instead of teasing me back, he closes the short distance between us and our lips meet in a tender kiss filled with bittersweet emotions. Ignoring the pain on my lips and ignoring my fully awakened morning wood for now, I focus on keeping our kisses soft and loving. For the hot stuff I'm sure we will have some more time later, so I push all my feelings for him into these pure and innocent touches of soft lips against soft lips and I feel him doing the same, which makes me tear up slightly when the love we feel for another becomes too potent.

Our bond seems to have grown much stronger after yesterday and at this moment I'm sure that from now he and I won't be able to live without being close to each other anymore.

Before it becomes too much for us to think clearly, with a small peck, Prom is pulling back and saying suddenly, "Guess what? I made pancakes. Your favorite. With lots of fresh butter and syrup. I know how much you love them, so I gave my best to get them as fluffy and tasty as possible."

My eyes sparkle in amusement when I see him getting excited over his grand achievement. So I give him a sweet kiss on his cheek, chuckling while saying, "Thanks Prom, what would I do without you?"

"You'd probably be not only starving by now, but be completely powerless, still stinking into high heaven and be hopelessly sexually depraved," I hear him reply with a dark chuckle, playfully hitting me on my naked butt and I react to that with a scandalized sounding yelp.

"Bloody hell, tell me you didn't dare to hit my tender ass just now." I growl at him comically in warning while rubbing my butt as if being in dire pain.

"Oh Noct, I'm telling you that I didn't hit your tender ass hard enough, but I will, if you don't make space immediately for me to finish my holy task of making juicy pancakes for my King."

We both start laughing at our childish antics as I try to dodge his second playful attempt to hit me, hiding my poor butt cheeks from him with my hands as I quickly make my way back out of his kitchen area to sit further away down on my chair to sulk. Forcing myself to patiently wait for him to finish his so called 'holy task'. On the table there are several healing potions ready and I take two bottles and down them with gusto, sighing in relief when all my soreness and pain disappears completely.

Trying not to stare too obviously at his nude form, I ask, "How come the temperatures inside this place can keep the same level at all times? It's so comfortable in here, even without clothes I do feel not cold at all."

Prom is placing the finished pancakes on the table in front of me. He's taking his potions first before replying, "Ah, that's easy. It's because of the fireplaces installed inside. The magical flames are, you could say, conscious of their surroundings. They adjust their heat according to our needs."

"But how? Ancient technology?" I ask intrigued.

And I see Prom replying with a cheeky smirk, "Nope. Ifrit, the ancient power of the fire element."

"Ifrit you say... is he an Archean? Or is he an elemental like Ramuh? Never heard of him before." I blink up at him, stupefied.

Prom laughs mysteriously at the strange look on my face, saying, "As you can see, there is still a lot we need to talk about, I look especially forward to hear your side of things."

"Well, your side of things sounds so far definitely more interesting than mine." I tease back, half in humor and half with dread because I don't know how he will react to the news of having a younger brother that died before he was even able to meet him. I watch him placing and arranging everything that we need around the plate full of pancakes and I send him a sad smile when he's peeling a grapefruit, a fruit my father used to love very much, and sharing one half with me. I take a slice and bite into it with relish as I wait for his tale to pick up from where we left yesterday.

"Maybe. But seriously, Noct. I need to know who or what it was that had crippled and rendered your powers useless to that extent. You could have really died out there without any means of protection. What happened to you?"

At that I become suddenly somber and silent. The sadness and guilt is clutching at my guts when I'm forced to think back of what happened yesterday...

Cor... Ravus...

Prom seems to sense that there is more to my side of story than he probably expected, saying softly, "Here, drink your coffee first while it's still hot."

"Thanks..." I grab my cup of coffee and take a sip out of it as I follow Prom's movements, of how he is sitting down on his chair and placing a few delicious looking pancakes on my plate first before he's serving himself a few of the fluffy pieces as well.

Well, where should I start... how will he react to the news that Cor was alive after all this time... to the news that Cor and Ravus, the older brother he never knew he had, have died yesterday because I wasn't strong enough to protect them. That this was all my fault... I wasn't able to save any of them, in the same way as I wasn't able to save Prom when it mattered the most.

"You think about something that you have guilty feelings for again. Out with it. No secrets between us."

I lift my surprised gaze up to him, watching a playful scowl appearing on his lips.

"I can read your emotions from your face like a book," he informs me playfully after I look back down to my pancakes.

"I just don't know where to start," I whisper back.

So I begin to eat in silence, feeling famished after our intense and long sessions of love-making yesterday. Heaven, I could stuff my face full with all those tasty pancakes, they are _that_ good.

Prom only silently watches me, trying to hide his smile when I can't stop myself from literally inhaling down my food. Even Ignis wasn't able to get the pancakes this fluffy and delicious.

After a while, Prom is offering to share a piece of his own information, saying: "I wish you could have met Chronus and Atlas. They were inspiring people. They... no, we, our souls, have been truly amazing while living at that time. Did you know that ancient Accoris was very advanced in technology? Even more so than Lucis today?"

"Really?" I perk up at this, because back home in Insomnia I loved everything that had do to with advanced tech.

"You know what? I'll tell you a secret of mine and then you tell me one of yours. A fair trade, what do you think?" He smiles sheepishly at me. "Normally it isn't allowed to take any memoirs or pictures while time traveling, just imagine when something gets into the wrong hands, the time lines could change drastically. But me being who I truly am... tehe, oh just wait and see what I have in store for you."

With a mischievous grin he jumps up from his chair and walks toward the 'forbidden' door. As I swallow down my food I crane my neck to have a better look behind him just as he opens said mysterious door and then starts rummaging around surrounded by complete darkness.

I furrow my brows at the strange sight. There is... well, nothing to see, only pitch black.

That's curious.

As soon as Prom comes back, I can't contain my urge to ask, "How do you know where to pick up the things you need? It's pitch black inside. Shouldn't there be some kind of visible space, some remnant part of this cave or something? How does this work?"

With a wink at me, he motions for me to pull my chair back a bit and then I let out a whoosh of breath when his warmth suddenly occupies my lap. Small Noctis takes immediately a voracious interest in having Prom's butt sitting right on it, but I place my hands around his hips and wait patiently as he places a red tinted box on the table right next to my plate. Wiggling in my lap to have a better sitting position, I hear him sounding slightly out of breath, "Looks like a black hole inside, right? As I said yesterday, time and space is frozen inside that door, so it's only my intention and my will that calls forth anything that I need. But more importantly, here are some things that I badly wanted to show you."

Eating the last piece of my pancake, I shove the empty plate aside to make more room for the contents of his mysterious box. My eyes do widen in fascination when he lifts up the lid, revealing several rare items from the far past lying inside. I shiver in anticipation when a powerful aura from that box reaches my sixth sense.

Prom breaths out excitedly, his fingers caressing a beautiful silver ring that he takes out of the box for me to have a better look at it. "Can you imagine? All these items, pictures and personal relics I've been entrusted with by Chronus and Atlas, are the only physical proof we have today that Accoris did indeed exist once. It's still unbelievable to me that I've traveled over ten thousand years back in time, something that should have been impossible by today's standards of science."

"It's indeed incredible," I agree with awe. Instantly I can feel a strange and powerful pull towards the silver ring between his fingers. "It's a magical item, isn't it? The ring is calling out for me."

"I knew it... you can feel something. This ring is a gift for you from Atlas himself. It was his, or better said it was always yours to have. But I never saw Atlas using its powers, he wore it day and night. He said to me that you should wear this at all times. He hadn't told me specifically what it does, only that it's linked intimately to your alien powers."

My fingers tremble when they reach towards the ancient looking ring and Prom carefully slides the powerful accessory down on my right middle finger. I let out a pained gasp when the silver metal suddenly melts down on the sides of my finger to merge with my skin, and it doesn't take long until a strong surge of magical power is electrifying my senses and then I hear a worried Prom calling for my name repeatedly while everything around me becomes all dark...

**...**

A dim lighted place greets my sharp eyes.

The tight passage I'm currently standing on makes me feel claustrophobic, the mash of dark tones of red and green colors around me are clashing terribly, but the stonewalls on each side give off a magical glow that is somehow soothing my fears.

I gulp down my inner uneasiness.

A heavy fog, dirt, bones and skulls, spider webs and cracks in the walls help to complete this image of being in a hellish place.

It reeks of darkness and death.

Where in the world am I?

I get the feeling that I should know this place. It's very familiar to me.

At the same time it feels as if I'm on the Astral plane, but something doesn't feel right.

I look at my surroundings with a frown. Behind me is only pitch-black darkness. The complete absence of air tells me that there is no immediate exit available.

Now the question is, how do I get back to Prom? How do I get back to consciousness again?

I squint my eyes to the long hall in front of me, trying to make out some details in the far distance. But it's futile, the entire place is too enigmatic, and my powers to see beyond the human spectrum of light does help here inside this realm not one iota, well, wherever this realm might be.

So I start to walk carefully forward, willing the Phantom Swords to come out but expecting nothing to happen. I heave a relieved sigh when the ancient swords do answer to my call. I thank them profusely for their loyalty and strength as they rotate protectively around my nude body while my feet take me further and deeper inside this creepy and dark corridor.

Is this still a part of the physical realm? Or the spiritual world? The ground beneath my feet feeling very strange.

I can hear some mystical sounding tones of music playing somewhere in the background and this makes me suddenly aware of being actually in a lucid dream. The kind of dreams where you become conscious of yourself of actually still lying in bed sleeping, and where you become excited at being able to scout your dream landscapes with full capacity of your conscious mind and the ability to direct your will inside your subconscious mind. It happen to me very often in the past when I was a child, and I remember that once I became lucid inside a dream I always got very excited to explore everything around me.

This time I can't say I'm that excited. Not in a good way anyway.

I know now that I could just step through the walls and let myself fall down into the darkness to wake up again.

But _something_ inside of me is telling me to stay.

Several shouting voices beyond these glowing walls become louder, their screaming and whining are giving me the chills and I just can't wait to get out of this place as soon as possible.

It takes me a long time until I finally reach a fully barricaded door that is blocking my path. I'm standing riveted to the spot, reading the sudden written letters appearing one by one before me.

"_What is thy heart's desire_?" I read outloud with a frown.

My heart's desire?

"Strength and Wisdom," I answer in a steady voice.

The screaming in the background changes to a chilly laughter.

Another set of glowing letters appear after the previous ones vanish into darkness.

"_Strength and Wisdom, to what end?_"

To save and protect everyone? To help out keeping the darkness at bay? To get everyone's freedom and free will back?

"For freedom and love," I say firmly with confidence. My final response echoing loudly inside this dark place.

The chilly laughter and whining voices stop and I'm now surrounded by a terrifying silence. I think I liked it better when the voices kept mocking me.

"_So it shall be. Do enter, wanderer._"

In true fashion of a typical dream landscape, the door vanishes entirely and I'm finding myself standing all of a sudden inside a graveyard. The red full moon illuminating this eerie place as a huge, dark figure quickly approaches me.

I squint my eyes again into the distance and I take a step back, the Phantom Swords still protecting me when the figure stops its movements right in front of me.

"And so we meet again, wanderer." His voice sounds familiar, ancient but young at the same time.

The hooded person is terrifyingly powerful. There are several layers of capes and ripped fabrics defying gravity as they flutter magically in the air around him. His aura makes my hairs stand up, and I know that in this current state of mine my powers are not even close to what _he_ is capable of.

"Who are you?" I ask in curiosity despite my urge to stay silent, the sound of my voice acknowledging his advantage that reigns absolute inside this realm.

The dark figure chuckles. His face hidden in the shadows of his cape, glowing red eyes do open their eyelids to stare back at me in amusement.

My heart hammers in my chest when I recognize those eyes.

They are the same hue of red that appear inside my own eyes whenever my magic core gets in some way sexually aroused, or whenever I absorb powerful forces inside of me.

"It's you," I blurt out, sounding somewhat choked in my astonishment.

I always wanted to know who or what this alien power inside me really was, and to be finally able to look him quite literally in his eyes... I never imagined this moment to be that eye-opening.

A delightful shiver passes my limbs when he steps forward and his tendrils of power are licking at my skin.

Instantly I begin to feel safe and treasured in his presence, and my Phantom Swords disappear in a heap of sparkling shards of magic all on their own. There is no need to protect me any longer.

"It took you long enough to get here, Noctis," he breathes out, sounding very excited that I found this place after all these long years.

My trembling hands reach forward to push the layers of his mystical hood away, slowly revealing his face and I pull my hands back as if being burned by him.

"Prom...?"

But how? Why does he look like Prom, red eyes instead of bright blue ones?

He chuckles fondly. "I don't have a physical body. In this realm I take the shape of the person you love the most to soothe your fears."

Not wanting to keep calling him 'the alien force', I ask him, "May I ask for your true name?"

He gazes at me in silence for awhile.

"...does it really matter? I'm neither here, nor there. I'm neither dead, nor alive. All that it matters is that _we are_. All that matters to _us_, is that you and I are of the _same_ essence now."

Then his form inches forward again until his surprisingly warm chest touches mine slightly and I realize suddenly that he stands as naked as I am before me, his layers of clothing completely vanishing when his strong arms embrace me gently.

"What are you doing...?" I whisper at him, trembling like a leaf, because his powerful aura gets me insanely sexually aroused.

"We finalize our contract. We become one in mind and heart," he murmurs back.

"Oh Gods...!" is the last thing that I manage to cry out before a powerful wave of magic takes my breath away and his body merges into me in its entirety.

His presence inside my mind is now more intimately woven than ever before.

I can feel his own heart now beating in tandem with mine and I have never felt as excited and alive as I feel right at this moment.

Suddenly I realize something profound.

This feels right.

This is the _real_ me.

"Let's get out of here," he whispers soothingly.

With a loud gasp I feel my current body being pulled back into my physical body. The dreamy landscapes change shapes and colors, until I give away to unconsciousness to take over me, assured in my acquired knowledge that I just freed my most loyal and powerful companion from the subconscious shackles of fear that I myself once forced unknowingly upon him.

...

"..ct! Noct, wake up!"

Something cold is placed on my forehead and I'm inhaling and exhaling air greedily and frantically, feeling as if I just died and came back to life simultaneously.

I know that to be true in a bizarre kind of way.

It's like I have finally found back to my true self, never having known before that a part of me was missing all this time.

My eyelids do open and I can hear Prom gasp in wonder at me. "Noct... your powers... Gods, and your eyes...," he whispers in awe, his sudden, shaky fingers touching my temples as if worshiping my existence, and I watch how his handsome face comes closer and closer to mine.

But before I can say a word, Prom crawls hastily over my naked body, making me realize that we lie in our bed again and without further ado his lips crush over mine with a passion I never knew he still had inside of him after yesterday.

What in the world has triggered this strong sexual reaction from him? Not that I'm complaining...

One could say it's the same as yesterday, only much more amplified, as our lips get bruised from all the heavy and hard kisses, saliva running out from the corner of our lips as our tongues devour each other messily, our trembling hands and fingers are reaching and touching and caressing and rubbing and scratching each other everywhere, both of us frantic to get more pleasure from each other, the sexual arousal between us becoming overwhelming, the tendrils of my magic making Prom sob with ecstasy until I feel my hard cock entering his lubricated passage fully again, and he starts moving his hips up and down in a fast pace while I break our kisses in a dire need to groan out keenly as his tight ring of muscles is pumping over my sensitive erection without mercy. And then he pushes himself backwards, his hands placed on each side of my stretched legs as he continues to ride me in a more slow but steady and heady pace while his glazed eyes never leave mine. I can feel his whole body quivering to my forceful slams against his prostate. Whatever he is sees in my eyes is arousing him beyond words.

And then it dawns on me.

Prom has always been very sensitive to my alien powers. I start to remember that intense afternoon where he and I had sex inside that cave for the first time. Now that my true self emerged, my powers completely awakened, it drives him almost insane with desire.

Heaven, it feels so damn _good_ to answer to his needs, to overload his mind with_ too much _sexual delights.

I can't properly express how much I love it when he becomes undone like this.

Prom is too gorgeous...

His moans turned long silent, a sign where I learned that his feelings and emotions become too much for him to bear. The erotic look on his beautiful face is cheering my hips on to thrust even harder up to meet his downward thrusts, and by Eos, the sight before me makes me reel in blazing arousal as he throws his head far back in his passion, a long drawn husky groan reaching my ears, revealing his long pale throat to me, his flushed chest heaving up and down from his harsh intakes of air, his nipples erect and delectable looking, teasing me to bite on them as his hard leaking cock further down moves and twiches between his wide spread creamy looking legs in tandem to my forceful thrusts.

When my eyes caress over and over his flushed erection, the milky white drops of his precum already ejaculating and reaching my belly, my lips open up to let out another aroused groan while my gaze now reaches the steamy place where our bodies are connected in such a stimulating bonding act.

Please, somebody save me... I'm going mad here... this is too much!

The alien power inside my mind starts chuckling, asking me if this measly amount of pleasure is already everything that I'm able to give Prom, if this is already everything that I'm able to endure, and I hear myself growl at him as an answer to his challenge.

As I watch Prom bending his back in sexual rapture, the connection between us becomes all of a sudden insanely wild. At once something snaps inside our bodies and we can feel each others mutual pleasures at the same time. I can feel from his perspective how my cock rubs his insides and gland with every movements of hips, and he in turn can feel from my perspective how his heat is enveloping me and driving me absolutely crazy. Hell, this level of insanity between us is far too sexy, too potent, there is too much searing pleasure overloading my nonexistent brain that seems to crush my senses to liquid fire whenever Prom rotates his hips in that _right_ way, his twitching hole swallowing me hungrily with every single pump of his tight muscle over my engorged shaft and I can't look away from the lewd sight of my cock entering him over and over. Prom's body is simply too beautiful and too erotic and heaven help me, whatever is happening between us right now is simply too much of everything at once!

I thought our sexual bonding from yesterday had been the pinnacle of our most intense intercourse yet. But consider me blown away for good now. _This_, whatever Prom and I witness right now, is completely out of this world.

My inner companion chuckles slyly, happy that _we_ make Prom look like this.

I'm obesessed and utterly lost within this erotic play between us...

Despite feeling overwhelmed by all the pleasures, I can't stop my hands from reaching for his hips, and I can't stop speeding up my movements, slamming my hips as hard as I can up into his slippery heat, enjoying his sensual moans, enjoying his gasps for more, greedily taking in how his cock is stretching straight upwards, its engorged head literally screaming for release. I can't seem to take my fill from watching Prom riding ourselves into oblivion, wishing to prolong this erotic madness for as long as possible. But then I already can feel my orgasm approaching and by the frantic slam of his hips I know that Prom is very close to his completion as well.

"Noct, please!"

My cock twitches inside of him at the sound of his breathy, husky voice.

I'll never grow tired of his ardent pleads and beautiful, lusty reactions to me. Never.

So I grasp his straining erection with my hand and start pumping the slippery skin in front of me in a tight grip as I continue to fuck him now in earnest, my cock sliding in fast and short thrusts inside and out of him, his body almost falling backwards from the force, and I grip with my free hand his hip in a bruising hold, the slapping sounds of sweaty skin meeting sweaty skin obscene, until my hungry eyes watch him bend backwards with a hoarse, guttural cry as soon as his slick and gorgeous cock pulses inside my fist and spurts the evidence of his desire up to his chest. And hell, as yesterday, I get hungry to taste him all over again and I pull him to me, relentlessly plunging my painfully hard cock into his wet heat, and I spread his semen all over his chest as if he were a canvas that I can feast upon, and in an instant my lips latch on his skin to lick and suck right at the moment when my own climax tears through my sensitive slit. With a low growl I lift his hips up to take my pulsing erection out of him and I let my own seed mix with his all over his belly and chest. Prom groans out loud, I know from yesterday how much those lewd actions of mine turn him on and with a fierce pull on the back of my head he's suddenly locking his wet lips with mine into a hard open-mouthed kiss. Whispering 'I love you' over and over against my lips in between heady kisses imbued full of passion.

I crush his body firmly to me, my arms almost squeezing the breath out of him from the sheer need for his closeness. The bond demanding to merge into another. His fingers comb through my disheveled strands of hair, gripping them tightly just when we feel our erections becoming ready for a second round again.

And all that I can think of right now, is that this madness between us is just the beginning... that the shared life force between us continues to grow and to grow and by Eos, I'm not sure I'll survive the intensity of our sexual union if it continues to feel as heady as it is now...

Surely human bodies are not built to reach such insane levels of orgasms.

Should I seriously start to fear for our lives?

The ancient companion that is now residing inside and sharing my conscious mind, laughs softly at my delirious thoughts.

I smile against Prom's full lips, as Prom and I practically inhale each other with hungry tongue kisses.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to die in the arms of your soulmate midst sexual pleasures at all.

**...**

To be continued.


	18. Expecting the unexpected - Prompto POV

Hi dear readers,

in this part, Prompto shares with us some of his thoughts ;). Let's just say this chappy is the calm before the storm so to speak.

**ben4kevin**: fufu, sorry if it was a tad too much for you ;). Thank you, as always, for reading and commenting on my work!

Have fun reading everyone,

Kamuel

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen - Expecting the unexpected - Prompto POV**

**...**

I wonder what time we do have now.

From here I can't see the clock properly.

It's probably around midnight already.

A huge yawn escapes me and I wiggle my limbs much closer towards Noct's, whose tired body is spooned against mine and his arms are even in his deep slumber holding me tightly against his chest.

This reminds me of our time back in the days, where Ignis, Gladio, Noct and I slept inside that tent. Those were the first nights when I began to steal Noct's t-shirts to cuddle with them to be surrounded by his comforting scent...

And now I don't need them anymore, because I have the real Noct to cuddle with.

Despite my yawning I somehow feel really refreshed, not able to fall asleep again, and so I just make myself comfortable beside Noct to fully enjoy his warmth. I like to listen to his soft, evened breaths, and I like how his warm exhales are tickling the skin on my shoulder. I inhale deeply to savour his unique and heady scent and I press my back even further towards his chest until there is no space left between us.

It's somehow surreal, to have Noct holding me so close again after almost two years of separation.

I can't stop the foolish smile appearing on my lips from happiness, closing my eyes tightly in pure bliss.

Alone this tranquil moment between us is worth all the suffering and loneliness we've had to endure.

And what a mad day this has been...

Yesterday already was a wild ride for us, but today ... I can only say it felt as if I wasn't myself. Whatever had happened to Noct inner powers, afterwards I was instantly swept away in a whirlwind of unquenchable need for his touch. His gorgeous red eyes, his powerful aura, everything about him made me completely forget myself. I seriously didn't care about anything else but to join our hips literally for eternity. I still don't understand what exactly was going on with me, because so far that never happened to me before. There was absolutely no holding back when his glowing red eyes captured me successfully into merging my life energy fully with his. Even if I wanted I couldn't ignore his calling that has been so loud and clear. And inwardly I knew that Noct wasn't really aware of what kind of effect he had on me - those strong awakened forces still too new and too fresh for him to grasp their true meaning.

With a repressed moan I push the side of my blushing face into the soft pillows under me. Hot damn .. this wasn't the way of how I planned Noct's full recovery to go. Not at this crazy pace and level of pure frenzy-ness.

Everything has been so overwhelmingly intense so far, that I don't really know how to handle all of this. I should _never _ever expect again for my plans and intentions to be fulfilled in the way I want them to be. The day today has proven yet again, that with Noct by my side _anything_ can happen.

And I have to admit, the real purpose behind the ring that Atlas bequeathed Noct has taken me completely by surprise.

Now I get why Atlas smiled so mischievously at me the entire day before my departure.

This sneaky hot man knew exactly what was going to happen to us after Noct awakened his magical core to his true potential. And because of that, today, I've been literally fucked several times over into oblivion by this new and much more powerful Noct. And hell, it felt so damn -good-. My brain was out of business for the whole afternoon, and after a quick nap for the entire evening afterwards. In truth I didn't mind being mindless at all, I just couldn't get enough of him.

And I still can't.

I want more.

And more.

So much more.

I can foresee this connection that we have to never be enough. No matter how often we make love ... I'll always want to get to that special place of pure bliss where only Noct and I exist to stay there forever ...

Those all-consuming red eyes of his never left mine for the whole time we were joined hip to hip. I literally moaned and cried and I screamed my throat raw by now. Just thinking back at how sensual Noct has been today turns me on like crazy.

Am I really that insatiable? When I first heard Atlas mention how insatiable Chronus was, I thought it was only a running gag between them. But now ...

Will this crazy hunger and thirst for Noct ever become lighter?

How could Chronus live with all these overwhelming emotions and yearnings for Atlas's touch for so long without losing his damn mind?

Honestly, when I came back to this timeline, I thought I'd be sufficiently prepared to take on this task of healing Noct's magical core to its original state.

But I wasn't. Prepared that is.

I really wasn't.

Noct is slightly moaning and moving now in his sleep, his right hand suddenly sliding down, touching my hip before the back of his limp hand falls directly on my erect cock.

Yeah. Great. Now I'm definitely ready for another round of sullying the already sullied sheets.

For god's sake, this just doesn't stop, does it? Am I in heat or what?! Because, oh wonder, I wish again with every fiber of my being to be eaten up alive by Noct _right now_ and not a moment later. Over and over again!

I let out a defeated chuckle when my arousal twitches impatiently.

The sheer level of yearning for Noct is just that; _insane_!

What to do now?

Shall I leave his side for awhile, to take a short walk outside just to clear my head a bit or something? Else I envision myself to implode right here next to him into a horny puddle of unadulterated lust.

Yeah. This is what I'm going to do. I'll just go out and meditate to calm the hell down. Because my eager reactions to him are getting far too ridiculous, even by my own standards.

I guess that's my curse of being completely healthy and a bundle of life energy to boot. Well, let's add my endless love and desire that I have for Noct into the brewing cauldron and spitting up is definitely a volatile mixture of lewd and passionate outcomes ...

So, with a heavy sigh of regret, as carefully as possible, I wiggle my way out of the warm bed and then reach for my clothes to dress myself in silence.

Once I've pulled my jeans over my legs and my t-shirt over my head, I turn around to take a last sneak peak at my gorgeous soulmate. But then I jump up in my own skin when his glowing red eyes are staring into mine and capture me yet again, rendering me immobile right on the spot.

My heart is leaping up in my throat, continuing to hammer against my swallowing reflex.

Oh God please have mercy, please not now.

A lusty shiver goes through my taut frame.

I need to resist, to get away, or I'll forget myself again and I don't know if this is such a good thing... especially since Noct really needs his sleep for his magic to fully heal.

For a whole minute or so I don't dare move any of my limbs, because of this terrible fright of being too weak to resist. An image of myself comes up in my mind of how I tackle Noct to impale myself on him yet again to ride his delectable cock until I get the very last drop of his essence squeezed out and it's impossible to hold back a shudder of want from spiking up to the roots of my hair.

And believe me, I'm _this_ close to give in.

Those inviting glowing eyes seem to smile knowingly at me - which is a little a bit eerie as Noct's lips do not move in any way, his body limp and definitely fast asleep.

And then I start to realize something completely baffling!

I narrow my own eyes in response at my sudden awareness of 'him'.

"Who are you?" I whisper more to myself, despite knowing the answer already.

There always was this hint of an ancient connection between Noct's powers and me, but only tonight do I start to question just when this connection had started...? Did Chronus know? If yes, why didn't he tell me more about '_him_'?

The sudden thought of having sex simultaneously with this ancient entity should make me feel ashamed and icky.

But strangely it doesn't.

Thinking back, it had felt _right_. I always welcomed '_him_' with open arms.

And now I want to know why.

It had been definitely this entity I mostly made love to whenever Noct's eyes glowed red - the same hue as they have now. And this is my evidence right here and now, that 'he' can become conscious of his surroundings without Noct needing to become aware of it happening.

'He' shares the same experiences as Noct?

But how... ?

Who or what is '_he_'?

As '_he_' and I continue to gaze into each others eyes, the need to get some answers from '_him_' grows constantly.

From the sparse teed-bits that Chronus has told me so far, I understood that this entity continued to stay a complete mystery to everyone until this very day. Back in Accoris I got the impression as if it were forbidden to openly talk about '_him_'. And as with everything that is forbidden, I want to find out the truth.

I take a step back when those maddening tendrils of Noct's immense power start to touch the surface of my mind, as if asking for permission to connect to me so that we can communicate to each other.

Somehow I trust this entity in the same sense as I do trust Noct with my life.

I don't even question this.

Without thinking twice I give '_him_' my consent.

"_Thank you,_" I hear '_his_' soothing voice whisper inside my mind. I shudder once more in delight when those familiar tendrils come out to caress me sensually everywhere at once. I bite on my lower lip to keep myself silent, my posture rigid and tense. Noct's powers focus solely on my aroused groin and I throw my head back with a repressed groan when '_his_' whispery voice asks confused, "_We don't understand. Why do you deny yourself this pleasure?_"

Oh if '_he_' only knew how much I do _want_ those pleasures... damn it!

He seems to read my mind, because those sneaky tendrils enter me instantly to stimulate my inner pleasure gland.

I choke back a loud moan. "Please..." Right now I don't even know if I beg those tendrils of magic to continue or to stop enticing me any further. Because what '_he_' does to me right now is simply not fair and I'm already at my limits!

I rub with my shaky hands over my face in a feeble attempt to get a damn grip on myself. "Noct needs his sleep to recuperate. Should he absorb any more etheric energy into his energy body, his magical core could become permanently damaged. Please. I just can't be that selfish now... he needs a break from this madness."

A relieved groan escapes me when I feel those arousing tendrils withdraw finally.

This was close... honest to God, I was on the brink to come apart in my pants.

"_We understand,_" he says, his voice inside my mind now sounding apologetic.

I look up into Noct's beautiful glowing eyes for some long moments, calming my breaths before asking confused, "Why are '_you_' so focused on giving me pleasure all the time? I can hear you calling out for me every single time you become active."

"_This is the only way we can show how much we appreciate your sincere gift. Sharing your life force with us is __invaluable__. We do not take such profound sacrifices lightly. It's in our nature to give back more than we receive._"

My reaction to what '_he_' just said is definitely more confused than enlightened. "'_You_' really think that I did sacrifice myself all this time?"

"_No. Your intentions are clear to us. You share your precious energy out of love. From a higher point of view it's a sacrifice to us nonetheless. We love you in return just as much._"

I gulp down my overcoming emotions. My mind spinning. I still can't believe I'm talking to Noct's inner powers. After experiencing time travel, this shouldn't be such a surprise anymore. Stranger things have happened already to me.

To get more information out of this entity, I ask further, "Why do you express yourself as '_we_', as in plural? Aren't you an individual consciousness, existing apart from Noct?"

"Yes and No. Our spirit is _one_, inseparable. We always were. We experience the world through the same eyes, we share the same emotions and sensations at all times throughout infinity."

Heaven... so what this means, is that '_he_' feels the same love and desire for me because there is no true distinction between both of their consciousness?

At this moment I don't know what to say. Best to stay silent.

The look inside his eyes becomes now too beautiful and too fiery, too craving, too sexually volatile for me to bear, calling for me to join him. But I really need to get out of this place before I'll lose it completely.

Exactly because I'm aware of Noct's magical prowess by now, he could easily give that final push to make me eagerly crawl back to his warmth and selfishly indulge on his companions promises of mind-blowing orgasms.

But my soul-mate's health is to me the most important. My pleasures don't have priority, they need to wait. Hell, I've waited for almost two years, so what are two or three days longer, right?

I send a short, regretful glance at Noct's gorgeous naked body while throwing my jacket over my shoulders and then pulling my boots over my feet, not willing to stay for one second longer in his tantalizing presence.

So I'm climbing up the ladder to get away from him as fast as possible. Hopefully I'm able to clear my mind outside a little bit... at least until I feel safe enough to get back to our bed without engaging Noct into exhausting erotic activities all over again.

**...**

On the next day, Noct and I have managed to get out of our _love nest_ to clean ourselves from head to toe at last.

And so, while he's still at the waterfalls outside, I take this opportunity to change the sullied bedclothes into fresh ones, grinning to myself at all the resurfacing memories.

Noct has wished for us to bathe together this morning, but I declined, knowing that this would inevitably lead up to us having a frenzy sex orgy once more. And so I said regretfully that he needs to patiently wait for a couple of days. It's important to give his magical core enough time to assimilate the absorbed life force properly before we can even dare to think to share sexual delights again.

In typical seductive Noct-fashion, he tried to ignore my warning of course. He was too adorable, how he was tickling me, hugging me, needing excuses to touch me all the time, caressing the places of my exposed skin, becoming more daring as he started to push me against all objects and walls inside this place at every opportunity to tongue-kiss the breath out of me - among some other, sneaky seducing techniques that almost broke through my fierce defense line.

But I congratulate myself, I stayed strong, despite my own raging hard on screaming hotly from the inside of my pants for my soul mate's touch.

Not even his pouty lips and beautiful searing look inside his damnable, gorgeous red eyes did help his amazing sexual advances any.

Shaking my head amused at his behavior this morning, I resume my task of tidying up our temporary home.

But just then, all of a sudden, I hear distant agitated voices from far above. A louder cry of pain follows and this makes me stop in my tracks in alarm.

What's going on?

Nobody living in this timeline should be able to find out our hiding place inside these mountains!

Without hesitating I rush to get several of my guns out of the stasis storage room, pushing them into the temporary holder on my hips that I have always on me, a habit that teached me early that it would save my life to keep it. And then I run the ladder up in growing panic as more shouts of pain reverberate through the cave's walls, preparing myself for a fierce battle.

Only somebody truly magically powerful could breach the protection walls Chronus and I have set up around this cave.

As soon as I arrive on the cave's ground level, I take two of my deadliest weapons into each hand and quickly make my way towards the exit. Maybe Noctis is already locked into battle and is in need of my help.

"Hurry, we have potions inside!"

My feet do a double take and I halt all of my movements when I hear Noct talking to someone, their hurried footsteps coming nearer.

The other male voice sounds unfamiliar when he answers breathlessly, "We are running out of time, I've already done everything to the best of my abilities to keep him alive, but my options ran out and I-"

This time another pained cry echoes through the cave, a horrifying sound which interrupts the other man in mid-sentence and just then I decide to rush towards them just as Noct and the other man come into my view, carrying a third, injured man, whose life is as far as I can see in grave danger. I watch them stunned, not knowing how to react to this sight, still in disbelief that someone could breach those strong protective barriers!

"Prom! Thank God! Quick, get us some potions! Cor needs immediate help!"

Obviously this isn't the time to ask questions. Blinking myself out of my stupor, I turn around to get back to my storage, getting out some of the most potent healing potions that existed only in ancient Accoris. In hindsight, I also get some soft blankets and a pillow out for the grave injured person to lie upon while healing.

Did I hear Noct just say that it's Cor? Cor, as in the best friend of Regis? So this man was alive all this time? What in the world happened to him?

I hurry back to the men waiting outside, my heart beating with adrenaline to make it in time.

As soon as I get up the ladder, I stop to worry about needless things, my top priority being now to save a life. Placing the blankets next to the fireplace, which I quickly lit up in passing nonverbally to give us more light and warmth, I start giving my soul mate instructions on how to hold Cor's injured limbs to not make those fatal wounds any more worse. I watch with worry how Noct and the other young man are carefully placing Cor down on the soft blankets, while I inspect quickly the serious magnitude of the damage his body has taken. So much flesh has been burned away from his body, the skin as far as I can see is nonexistent in some places and when I see the inflamed and most probably deadly infected wounds on his legs I start to uncork the potent potions one by one with trembling hands.

I swear I won't let him die. I won't.

He is family. With Regis now gone, he's one of the most important people to Noct as of now.

"Alright everyone, listen," I say in a strong voice, but not really feeling strong at all. "Now we need to get those potions down his throat. Please hold him carefully from each side because his body shakes too much." I hurry up with my task to prepare all the potion bottles when I see that Cor must be on the verge to going into shock.

How in the world did he survive these grave wounds for so long?

With shaking fingers I place the first bottle to his lips, but I already foresee him either choking or biting on his tongue from the painful tremors, and the only way to stop him from damaging himself any further is to carefully place his body into stasis, something I have never done on a human being before. This is an emergency, so I hope against hope that Cor will get through this alive.

Only after he stopped his movements do I administer the healing liquids one by one to him, focusing on his throat area and stomach to do their intended work as the rest of his body stays firmly frozen in time.

I risk a quick glance up at Noct, his face looks all pale and sick, his body shaking all over, and my heart reaches out to him. I know how much Cor means to him and I'm really grateful that his mentor made it here in time for us to heal his severe injuries.

After I make sure that Cor got every potent final elixir down inside his stomach, I unfreeze his entire body and let the medicine do its quick healing work. At once Cor coughs up some remaining drops and then falls straight into unconsciousness afterwards, the whole stressful ordeal having obviously taken a heavy toll on him.

"Very good." I look at the two men sitting in front of me. "He's safe now, his body should regenerate at a high speed. We made it in time," I add to soothe their fears, sounding very relieved when I see how Cor's damaged flesh grow quickly back in all places and how they sculpt themselves into firm muscles and healthy skin again.

I can see slight tears swimming in front of Noct's beautiful eyes and I nod at him with a smile, taking his clammy and cold hands into mine to reassure him that Cor will be completely healed once he wakes up.

"Thank you, Prompto. Thank you so much," says the handsome young man next to Noct. He places his hand on my shoulder, a genuine expression of gratitude inside his bright blue eyes.

But it's not this what makes me stop to take a better look at him. It's the tender expression that he has on his face for me.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Like... I don't know. Like I'm somebody very precious to him.

Does he know me?

I can see some meaningful glances exchanged between him and Noct and I begin to wonder how long they do know each other already.

What happened here while I was away from this timeline?

Noct suddenly stands up, a slight blush on his face while saying jokingly to lift up the mood, "Sorry, but I need to dress up, wouldn't want Cor to get a heart attack from seeing me all naked all of a sudden. In his eyes I'm still a young child, best for me to keep up with that innocent image he has of me."

We all chuckle at that, but as soon as my eyes drift over to the handsome guy sitting next to me, my laughter gets stuck in my dry throat.

What in the world?

His eyes are stuck on Noct's nude and sexy butt!

No way! What's this?!

Does this mean he has the hots for Noct?

Hell, now I wish Noct hadn't said anything about his nakedness, because this cute guy's eyes do now follow his naked body all the way up to the ladder that leads downstairs.

It's not exactly jealousy that tickles at my stomach, because I rest assured in the knowledge of what Noct and I share and I know that the love for each other is unconditional and infinite. But I can certainly understand this guy's reaction to Noct. I mean, my soulmate is truly too amazing to resist to ogle at him with awe.

What makes me frown, as I observe from his eyes the level of desire he feels towards Noct, is the serious level of love he seems to have for him. I must say, for somebody who met Noct apparently only a few weeks ago, this is indeed very suspicious.

I clear my throat rather loudly as soon as Noct is downstairs and I surprise him, stating the obvious, "You love him."

His head turns back to me, unfazed that I'm aware of his feelings. "Yes, I do."

Heh, interesting guy. Doesn't deny it.

"I'm glad you're not trying to talk yourself out of it. I appreciate your honesty. I'm sorry to say that Noct's heart belongs to me already," I clarify politely. "You may look, but not touch, else I won't be responsible for your immediate disappearance from this dimension."

At this he starts to roar in laughter, first throwing his head back, then hunching forward to hold onto his stomach while continuing to laugh hard.

I stare at him completely off-guard.

What did I just say that he found so funny?

He wheezes his breaths out as he tries to calm himself enough to answer. "You haven't changed at all. Around twelve thousands of years later and here you are saying the exact same unselfish words to me as you did back then. I may look but not touch? You truly are too pure for this world. Any other guy would have already punched the daylights out of me."

Okay. This is now officially taking me aback.

"What do you mean with 'twelve thousands of years later'? Do I know you?" I ask suspiciously, thinking immediately of Accoris. I never met someone like him before in my time travel.

"Forgive me. I haven't properly introduced myself yet." He rubs his hand on his thigh first before he reaches out for mine in greeting. "Call me Ravus. In this life you might have heard of me being the son of Iedolas Aldercapt."

And here it makes click in my brain. "Wait, what? _You_ are the scrawny kid from Niflheim who creeped the fuck out of Noct when he was younger? The one who was stalking him and following him around everywhere? I can't believe I finally get to meet you. I still have to settle a serious score with you." I pump my fists together with a wide grin on my lips, wanting to rile him up in revenge for laughing at me just moments before.

He now dares to look ashamed of himself - something that throws me off yet again. "I'm aware myself of what I've done, thank you very much for reminding me. My behavior wasn't exactly intentional... and right now is neither the time nor the place to reveal the true backstory of what happened to me when I was younger."

"Oh don't you worry, I'll keep bothering you to explain yourself to me. Probably until you're one step away from suicide, which will be soon, just to give you a slight heads up."

I glance at Cor, pretending to check for his health as Ravus continues to stare at me in a... _very_ strange way.

Strange as in... _very_ tender.

_Lovingly._

My eyes grow large, gulping down when my innocent self realizes something.

Don't tell me that he...?!

I give an involuntary shudder.

No, it wouldn't be _that_, would it?

Another sneak peek back into his eyes confirm my suspicions.

You can't be serious! Ravus is in the process to fall in love with me as we speak!

Noctis! S.O.S! Come back already! Don't leave me alone with this creep!

Oh holy sh... what should I do?!

Inwardly I give myself a heavy slap over my forehead.

This is turning into such a complicated and fucked up mess!

Let me tell you that I don't do threesomes! Well, realistically speaking I do, if we count Noct's magic powers, his companion who merges with my life force every time we have sex. But physically, I really haven't tried that one out yet and I think I'd like it to stay that way.

To be honest, yes, Ravus turns out to be honest and polite so far and of course his looks are overwhelmingly handsome... so...

Glancing back at him, I imagine myself kissing his soft looking lips and something inside of my guts clench vehemently against this image. Ugh, it feels horribly wrong on every single sane level that exists in my currently overloaded brain!

A threesome is definitely out of the question!

There's only one way to stop this from evolving any further.

"Listen Ravus."

I clear my throat a few times, preparing myself to reject his interest as softly as I can. Better to say it now, so that his feelings can't grow into something big, where it becomes impossible to not hurt him a lot afterwards.

"You're a really interesting and gorgeous guy so far, really... but uh, you see, I mean... Well, as I said earlier, Noct and I are in a serious relationship and just in case you're about to fall in love with me too, I would prefer it if you back off now and-"

Ravus thankfully interrupts my sacred speech of rejection, "Good heavens, wait a minute Prompto, you completely misunderstood my intentions. I didn't fall in love with you-"

"By all that is precious to me... do you two even hear yourselves talk? Somebody please kill me. If one would be asking me of my opinion, I'd prefer to die instead of waking up to hear you two spout such a nonsense."

"Cor!" Ravus instantly crawls to the other side, closer to his obvious close companion, checking the skin of his friend for any remaining wounds.

I smirk at the old man who just came back to the living, mocking him in humour, "What? Feeling suddenly too old for romance and love? At least I do get some action. You can leave for all I care if you don't want to see or hear any of it. You're welcome by the way, that I just saved your sorry ass."

Cor rolls his eyes at me in that same, very mature and stoic way which only a true, proud samurai is truly capable of.

I feel honored to be the center of his attention right now.

In case one didn't notice, there is truly no love lost between this old man and me. Well, he isn't _that_ old yet, but he would definitely seem much younger if he just would pull that heavy stick out of his prudish ass and try to live a little, instead of making my life a living hell.

He always was the first one to raise his voice against me, for being a bad influence to the prince.

But right at the moment where Cor opens his mouth, no doubt preparing himself to say something scathing in reply, Noct arrives to the scene. My hero. Thankfully fully clothed this time.

"Cor!"

"Noctis!"

Now it's me who's the one rolling his eyes.

Just look at this old man.

Being pampered and cared for by such cute guys all around him.

He's epitome of envy of all female population.

Noct and Ravus smile at each other, making several remarks of how glad they are that Cor is alive and healthy.

Yeah, don't worry about me guys, just continue to ignore me.

I shouldn't feel this way, in truth I'm relieved that Cor got a second chance at life. I secretly like him. It's just that I don't like it when he criticizes my actions so harshly.

It's clear as a day how much Noct needs him by his side... so I'll even get along with Cor if this is what makes him happy... I would do _everything_ for Noct to stay happy. _Everything._

After a while, Noct points at Ravus and me, giving us another of his joking remarks, "So you two are still in one piece. I came back prepared having to split you apart and then stitch your body parts back together."

"Ha. Ha." Ravus imitates a dry laugh.

"Yeah, very funny." I add helpfully, nodding my head in agreement.

Noct blinks at us in a mixture of confusion and awe, sitting down on the opposite side of us while asking, "Now, when you sit so close to each other, I can clearly see and hear the resemblance. How did I miss to make that connection in the past?"

"Huh? Of what kind of resemblance are you talking about?" I shift my eyes between Noct and Ravus, getting the feeling that I miss something very important.

Noct then is sends Ravus a strange look, apologizing suddenly, "My bad, I thought you two already talked about it."

"Talked about what exactly?" I nudge them with a louder voice for them to spit it out already.

Cor coughs dryly, getting Noct's attention when he says, "I woke up to Prompto rejecting Ravus' feelings of love."

Noct stares at me speechlessly. "You did?! Really?"

"What? Why do all of you stare at me as if I'm the last human being in the entire universe?! I clearly saw Ravus staring at me in the way only lovers do to each other. He obviously fell in love with me and I needed to reject his feelings before it was getting too late-"

Sudden laughter echoes through the cave and I start to get angry at those damnable, gorgeous looking men.

"Quit your laughing immediately! It's not funny at all!" I shout out at them, crossing my arms feeling offended.

What's with everyone laughing, first Atlas and Chronus, and now those guys.

Then Noct finally takes pity on me, inching closer to take me into his arms. "Prom... look at me."

I can't stay angry for long when he looks at me like _that_. So I pout at him instead in response.

But the pout vanishes as soon as it came into being.

Because I hear Noct say the following words.

"Ravus is your older brother. In the far past, he was Chronus' brother as well."

Say wha...?

I let my eyes drift over to Ravus. Taking a closer look at the really gorgeous guy, whose tender gaze at me I misinterpreted to be romantic love. The really handsome guy, who now confirms Noct's words to be real with a firm nod of his head and a soft smile on his face.

My brother.

My older brother.

These foreign words keep repeating, and repeating, and I still can't fathom their true meaning at all.

I always believed that my entire family died many, many years ago.

I always thought to be the only survivor.

And now I'm not alone anymore. I still have a blood related family to come back home to.

And this is such an unfamiliar emotion to me, that right now I do not know how to feel.

I can only openly stare back at him with disbelief and confusion written all over my pale face.

In addition to all that, Ravus was Chronus' older brother. Of him I know very well... I lived two years next to his side...

Oh hell, these turn out to be some interesting times for Noct and I, indeed.

**...**

* * *

To be continued.


	19. Chapter Nineteen - Ravus - Noctis POV

Hey dear readers,

first things first: **WARNING!** m/m lime, sexual situation happening! Mature readers only please!

So, wow, long time no read, huh? Has it really been that long since I last updated this story? Whoa, I feel ashamed of myself, especially since this is my favorite story that I wrote so far... ;_;

I sincerely want to thank my loyal readers for following and staying with this story for so long! Thank you so much! It feels like we all grew up together, ha.

Can you believe that the release date of FFXV happens in less than two months time? Can you believe this?! Well, I can't xD lol.

The night before, I dreamed of Noctis, I dreamed of playing his game. So this chapter I dedicate to wholly to him.

To his wonderful growth! Cheers!

Have fun reading!

Kamuel

**P.S.: I changed 'Dius' to his official name 'Ravus'. Square Enix has officially introduced the hooded man as Luna's older brother. In my story Luna is nonexistent and Ravus replaces her somewhat. In this story Ravus is also Iedolas Aldercapt's adoptive son and he is Prompto's older brother now. I hope this is not too confusing for all of you, because I began this story before we had any official information about Ravus' real whereabouts. **

P.S.: I just remembered that I myself prefer when writers post a short summary of the previous chapters. So I'd like to do the same here for everyone.

**SUMMARY: **

After trials, suffering and longing, Noctis and Prompto are together again. After Cor and Ravus shut down Noctis' powers, Prom came back from the ancient past to assist Noctis to heal and awaken his alien force once again. Their time spent in each others solitude and pleasure was disturbed by sudden unanounced visitors; by a deadly wounded Cor and by Prompto's older brother Ravus. Now they have to accomodate two lost souls into their secret haven, for them to heal, to learn from each other and for their bond to grow stronger together.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen - Ravus - Noctis POV**

**...**

"How do you feel?" I ask Cor with a worried frown when I see him slightly stumbling down the last steps of the ladder.

"A little dizzy still, but definitely a lot better than half an hour ago, I can breath again, all thanks to you two. Don't worry, it's nothing that a good amount of sleep wouldn't heal," he answers in a raspy voice. From the expression on his tired face it's clear how immensely grateful he is to us for saving his life.

Meanwhile Ravus guides a worn out Cor to a chair at the table nearby and I see how Prom seems to stare Ravus down.

Speaking of Prom, ever since he learned of the fact that Ravus is his sibling, he hasn't spoken a single word. Which admittedly is very unusual for him. He just stares on and off at his brother intently, as if trying to figure out some ancient piece of a difficult puzzle, his gaze focused and serious.

I wonder what's going on...

"I'm sure that you two must be famished," I conclude from watching our guests fatigued stances, gesturing to Ravus to take a seat on the second chair.

So I walk up to my soulmate to kiss his forehead tenderly, trying to get his attention when I ask, "Prom, would you be so kind to prepare lunch for us?"

"Huh? Err, sorry, of course," is his flustered response at being caught staring at Ravus for so long.

"You alright?" I whisper against his lips after I kiss them softly, relishing their feel and taste for a moment.

"Ehm, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

I pull him to my chest to hug him gently. Now that the commotion around Cor has calmed down, I can fully focus on my soulmate again.

"Thank you so much...," I murmur into his ear, hoping that he can intuit on his own that I'm incredibly grateful for his help on saving Cor's life. Prom has grown to such an incredible and strong individual, I'm actually amazed by his powers and skills, and I can't wait to learn more about them.

He just kisses my cheek lovingly, squeezing me slightly before letting go of me with a smile on his face.

I watch his back as he turns away to open the 'forbidden door'. Despite the smile on his face, it's clear to me that something important seems to occupy his mind.

What is it about Ravus that has shaken up Prom that much? Why do I have the uncanny feeling, that there seems to be more hidden history between those two, rather than the revealed fact of them being siblings?

Lost in my own thoughts, I glance back at Prom's brother for a possible hint, but all that I can see is a young man looking weary and utterly exhausted.

I can only imagine the amount of sheer will, strength and power that Ravus had to sacrifice to uphold Cor's fragile heart alive to keep beating the entire time. My respect, and in addition a surprising fondness for him, has grown from this act alone. I can't help but regret my childish behavior toward him by now, so I promise to myself that once we are alone, I'm going to apologize sincerely and thank him profusely for bringing Cor here to heal.

As I watch Cor and Ravus, lost in my thoughts, I don't know whom to thank, aside of Prom, for giving me back two important people that I had previously thought to have lost forever...

A sudden loud clatter to my left makes me jump in my own skin.

"Noct, can you place those chairs at the table?"

I silently follow Prom's request, shrugging my shoulders at his peculiar behavior. I'm sure he will talk to me when he is ready.

**...**

"So, what do we do now?"

Prom cleans the silverware after we all finished eating our lunch, glancing up at us when nobody answers his question.

Cor rubs his belly, yawning tiredly before finally replying, "First, Ravus and I need to rest, we will conjure up a plan at a later time. We are in no rush for the moment, Aldercapt is convinced at the moment that we all are dead. My best guess is, that he's busy getting his dirty hands on the Crown of Lucis. This task will occupy his greedy mind for a long while and it might take a few weeks until he realizes that all his focused efforts toward his goal are futile, giving us in turn enough time to plan ahead and to come up with something useful to strike back. By the way, thanks for the meal Prompto, good job."

I hide my amused smile when the fork in Prom's hand clatters to the floor, genuine surprise written on his face.

He bends down to pick it up, resuming to polish the poor silverware with more force as he jokes dryly, "Wow, Cor, you sure your head is okay? You must feel pretty knackered to thank me all of a sudden, the potions must have accidentally gone up to the wrong parts of your brain."

"Don't get smart with me, brat," warns Cor with a scowl on his face, crossing his arms. "What happened to you? Grown a sudden backbone, have you?" He smiles tauntingly.

"Well, one of us had to grow up while away on adventure," is Prom's smashing answer.

Cor places his hands on the table. "I can read in between the lines, what do you want to imply?"

"_I_, for one, was busy searching and bringing back important knowledge to help my soulmate save your sorry ass. So tell me, what was it that _you_ did to help Noct while I was away? Oh, I see now, you were busy playing dead, weren't you?"

"Prompto," says Ravus in warning.

Cor growls, standing up from his chair, but Ravus is already up to push Cor back to sit down again, motioning to him to stay silent.

I hold onto my head.

Goodbye solitude, farewell tranquility. It was nice knowing you.

I shake my head at those two as they glare at each other, ready to bicker some more.

Ravus meets my eyes and saves those two from further making fools out of themselves when he asks tiredly, "Where can we rest?"

My face flushes when his eyes drift knowingly over to the _love nest_, the only bed existing inside this room.

Prom clears his throat, placing the clean fork away. "There are extra mattresses and blankets for emergencies like this stored in the room behind you. And while we are at it, please refrain from opening this door by yourselves, it's dangerous, I'll explain later why."

Cor frowns at the door, but keeps his sarcastic remarks to himself, thankfully.

"Well then, let's rest," says Ravus, cutting all conversation short when Prom pulls out the first items out of the stasis room.

Having watched in silence how my close friends interact with each other, I can certainly say right now that the next few days, or even weeks, might become lively indeed.

I can't wait for Ignis and Gladio to finally join this madness. I miss those two terribly.

**...**

"May I join you?"

I blink the water drops out from my eyes to have a better look at Ravus.

It's evening already, Cor still sleeps soundly, and Prom has left us for awhile to scour our hiding place between the Niflheim mountains to check the protective wards around us; which I'm sure by now, as I watch Ravus step closer and awaiting my answer, that this was only Prom's excuse to give Ravus and myself some time to talk in private.

"Feel free to do whatever you want, these mountains are part of _your domain _if I remember correctly," I say, shrugging my shoulders in good humor, as if not caring in the slightest that he of all people decided to join taking a bath at the waterfall.

Ravus smirks slighly, obviously understanding my teasing jab at him that he still holds the upper hand over me, and then he starts to unbutton his long coat with precise motions of his hands.

For some inexplicable reason I feel my heart skip a beat when he slowly undresses in front of me, and I can't help myself but stare at his long, strong looking upper legs as they submerge into the artificially heated water around us. My wide openend eyes are glued to his body as he moves in my direction.

The fierce kiss, the one he stole from me back in Niflheim, now firmly in the forefront of my mind, and I feel how my cheeks heat up against my will from the memory.

The water sways stronger against my chest the more Ravus closes the distance between us, the waterfalls behind us thankfully drowning out the sound of my agitated swallow.

A surge of irritation twists my stomach into knots at the ridiculous hope that he would steal another kiss from my lips, and I stop a moment to very deliberately set those insane urges aside to ask myself, 'What's wrong with me?'

Ravus takes a long breath before immersing himself wholly under water, resurfacing with a loud gasp shortly after, and I hold my breath when he throws his head back to rake his long fingers through his wet hair. Groaning in bliss he cleans his chest first, his beautiful, pale hands scooping water to let it flow over his wet, glistening skin, and damn, I need to force my eyes to look away because all his movements are sensual as hell.

What in the world is he doing? Is he trying to seduce me? If he is, I fear this mad plan of his is working, and to my own chagrin I find myself simply struck speechless at his seducing, brazing act.

I'm far from finished with my cleaning ritual, and yet I have no choice but to stand up and my feet start to walk away all on their own.

I have to go. In this state I'm not in my right mind to hold a proper conversation with Ravus tonight. I don't trust myself.

I take note of my fluttering stomach, my skittish behavior around him surely blatant to him, as the dread, of him taking further notice of my quite visible reaction to the stimulating visuals he so carelessly presents in front of me, makes me flustered and uncomfortable in my own skin. Hopefully I'm able to get away before he realizes what he's doing to me. The insistent tingling of his soft and warm lips, when his body aligned with mine, and the feel of his strength as he pressed me against that door in his private rooms a few days ago, gives me goose bumps everywhere. The memory of him on that day keeps mocking me now, provoking me to finally admit to myself that I liked that indecent kiss a lot...

Hell, I need to get away from here before I do or say something we will both regret...

But I underestimated Ravus' observation skills, because his hand shoots forward immediately to hold onto my arm to stop me from leaving.

"Stay," he whispers softly next to my ear.

The feeling of the heat of his skin as it is slightly touching me electrifies my blood vessels to the core.

Why in the world do my feet stop at his request?

I need to get away from here.

So I turn my head to glance up right into his gleaming blue irises, preparing myself to wish him a good night, but looking at his eyes turns out to be a major mistake. Now I can't ignore the yearning I found inside of them. I grow aware of his alluring, strong body standing so close to me. The erotic tension between us raises and I feel like losing the footing under me when the knuckles of his hand caress my cheek with tender strokes.

"Please, stop this...," I whisper into the darkness surrounding us, scared that if my voice is any louder something completely forbidden might happen. "Why are you doing this? Why me...?" Finally, after all these years, I have the courage to ask this question, and I close my eyes tightly to avoid his scorching gaze while desperately trying to understand where this peculiar attraction between us stems from... at first I was convinced that I felt like this because he's so similar to Chronus, to Prom's past self. But now, hell, I honestly start to doubt my own muddled mind as his feather light touches on my face make me tremble all over with pleasure.

A soft sigh escapes him, finally letting go of my arm. "You don't remember."

"Remember what?" I dare to ask breathlessly, simultaneously dreading and anticipating his answer.

"Let's sit down for a bit," he suggests softly, "The time has come to reveal to you the truths of our ancient past. But of course, in case you don't want to learn about us, in case you don't want to remember, you are free to go..."

My eyes are still closed, slowly breathing in and out in an absurd attempt to calm my nerves down. I can feel Ravus leaving my side, the cool air hitting my wet skin where he touched me before grows more and more uncomfortable the longer I stay here, like being all dressed up but having nowhere to go.

Moreover, the powerful, awakened companion inside of me nudges me relentlessly to follow him and to hear him out.

Feeling reluctant as I give in, I make my way back to the place where I sat before, watching Ravus take a seat on a vegetated rock nearby, while I try, but fail, not to stare at him for too long. It helps that his lower body is immersed into the water, else I wouldn't be able to focus on our conversation at all. The wet locks of his ash-blonde hair fall artfully over his forehead and temples, framing his lean and handsome face in a way that I can't help but find irresistible...

Shaking my head, I start to feel desperate to escape his appealing presence.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me to see that you trust me that much," Ravus says softly, his radiant, ice blue eyes following my movements.

I join his side, careful not to touch him in any way, in fear that the curling tension inside of me might snap at once. The powers inside of me are tense with excitement, keeping me firmly seated next to Ravus' enticing presence and I'm beyond confused at my companions eager reactions to him tonight.

Taking a calming breath, I say in return, "Ravus, it's me who should say thank you. For not only saving my own life back in Duscae, but for saving Cor's life as well. I behaved like a brat, didn't I? I can't apologize enough for the things I blamed you for and because I-"

Ravus' fore finger comes up to my lips to silence me, the warmth of his wet skin tingling and I fight the instinct to react visibly to it.

Why is he affecting me like this? I don't understand...

"Stop apologizing for things you had no control over. Your behavior was understandable, the circumstances demanded proper answers which I at that time wasn't able to provide. Those circumstances obviously changed by now, officially I'm a dead man. I am free from my shackles and can finally follow my own rules. You can ask me anything, you have my word that I will answer all your questions sincerely and to the best of my knowledge. But first, let me explain why I followed you around when we were young, I think this is a good place to start."

It's difficult to focus on his words when he holds my cheek, the soothing warmth of his hand calming me a little, his thumb caressing my lower lip in tender movements. A slight shudder of arousal goes through my body and I can hear the alien power inside of me chuckle slyly when I tense up.

'_What's so funny?_' I snap at my companion, irritated that he seems to know something that I don't.

He just stays silent in answer and I have to roll my eyes inwardly. Damn him...

"Noctis, what I'm about to tell you, will most probably change the dynamics of your relationship with Prompto. It's not my intention at all to complicate matters or to make both of your lives unnecessarily difficult, you two are too important and dear to me for that. So I need your permission first, for me not to infringe upon your free will with the knowledge that you will get to learn tonight. Are you sure that you wish to remember details of the life you did once lead in Accoris?"

Swallowing my saliva down, I give a nod in a gesture to my consent. My heart starts beating furiously in my chest at the prospect to finally get some proper answers to my most pressing questions.

"Ravus, I need to remember my true self. My father, Prompto, Cor and now you; to me right now it seems like everybody else knows more about me than I myself do and this has been driving me absolutely crazy." I take a nervous breath to keep myself grounded before adding, "Please, tell me everything you know, I need to learn who I was, who I am now and who I need to become to understand the full picture."

Ravus lifts my hand up to his lips. Placing a meaningful kiss on my knuckles, his glowing eyes almost burn themselves intently into my own when he answers softly, "As you wish."

I feel my face heat up right to the top of my ears at his fiery gaze, hoping that the truths he shares with me will finally shed some light over this strange attraction and fascination I seem to have with him tonight.

Trying to ignore the electrifying caresses on my hand, I listen closely as he begins his tale, "I was fifteen when dreams about you began to haunt me. Those dreams rumbled around my subconscious mind for weeks and for months with no imminent end in sight. I was desperate for them to stop. Those dreams were erotic in nature; their content about the two of us, exploring and enjoying the pleasures that your powers bestowed on us. Because of my upbringing, in my youth I hated you with every fiber of my being. At first I couldn't piece together why it had to be you to star in those maddening dreams. By that time I grew up brainwashed, tainted in my strong belief that you and your family were my archenemy. Iedolas used the advantage he had over me to tell me fabricated lies, stories of how Regis had been the one responsible for the horrific war that eradicated my entire family. So naturally, I gave my all at all times to despise you with my whole being."

I frown inwardly at the subject of his dreams.

They were erotic in nature, he said.

This sounds exactly like those dreams that Prom and I have witnessed a few weeks ago... but Prom and I are soulmates, we were lovers in the far past.

So why did Ravus dream of me in this context...?

His serious tone of voice changes to one of humor when he tells me something funny, "Alone the sheer notion of you and I engaging in any sexual activities together had been absolutely ludicrous to my jaded, teen aged mind. Just imagine the trauma I had to endure when I met you in flesh for the first time. My reaction to you was as alarming as it was hilarious."

I snort out a somewhat embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, I can remember that moment well."

I remember a horrified Ravus stumbling over his own feet as he ran out of the meeting room as soon as my father introduced me to him. "You were sputtering various unintelligible things. 'Ohmygodhe'shere!' and 'OhmygodIcan'tfacehimnow!' being the only words I could catch at that time."

We smile at each other at the amusing memories. I watch him take a deep breath, then he resumes his tale with a fond expression, and I continue to listen in silence, my eyes secretly drinking in his natural charms.

It's really strange... now that we are all alone, the longer I am in his presence, the more I feel my heart growing attached to him...

"You were even more beautiful in person than the image I had of you in my dreams. As you had witnessed, the forces of hate and desire kept me in your presence on my toes at all times. I acted like an imbecile around you, followed you everywhere but didn't know what to do about the potent attraction I had felt inside because of you. But in the end, the sacred message that my dreams were trying so masterfully to beat into my stubborn skull for years have miraculously prevailed," he pauses, looking down at our joined hands to gather his thoughts.

I'm now curious to learn why he dreamed of the two of us so intently. It should be alarming to me that the content of his dreams were haunting him for years... and even more alarming because they were about me and him having sex, and yet here I am, nervously waiting and wanting to know more about it.

"Well, I'll give you that, you certainly had me confused," I say dryly, a hint of humor in my voice, "at that age I was still naive, you could have kissed my breath away and I still wouldn't have understood what you were trying to achieve."

"Ah, so you do suggest that I should kiss your breath away right now? It would be interesting to find out if you understand my intentions tonight in comparison to your younger self," he suddenly flirts with me while pulling on my arms with a firm tug to make me slide closer to his body.

"W-wait, I didn't mean it like that," I stutter out, heart hammering as our knees touch.

Eos, another kiss between us would only make this sexual tension between us grow worse!

Ravus laughs out loud and I find myself entranced by the enchanting sound of his laughter.

"Stay calm, Noctis. I was just teasing you."

Right, _teasing_ he says. I'm not an idiot, I am aware that he desires me for real... and yet I somehow truly feel like an idiot, because of my conflicting emotions that are confusing me right now.

He roams his eyes appreciatively up and down my chest, his unnerving, radiant gaze staying there and making love to me with their ardent caresses everywhere they look... hell, the sheer nerve of him of not even trying to hide his blatant desire makes me want to either punch the living daylights out of him or to furiously jump him to make his desires a reality.

Once his lascivious eyes have taken their fill, he gently strokes the sides of my arms before letting go of them to continue his explanation.

As I analyze my emotions, after Ravus victoriously managed to scramble them up like those eggs I always eat in the mornings in his licentious wake, sexual arousal and denial being the strongest ones of them all at the moment, I don't even know where to begin to explain to myself of why I dare to feel disappointed... what exactly did I expect to happen anyway?

"I was eighteen when the veil suddenly lifted from my mind," he startles me, bringing me and my volatile emotions back to the present.

I give my best to focus on his next words, because the insistent flames frolicking inside my groin become harder to ignore the longer his gorgeous eyes bore into mine.

"I was able to remember slices of the past live which I once led in Accoris. I finally understood from those dreams that they were not a curse, but actual precious memories of you and I."

I tense up instantly, heart fluttering.

What did he just say? They were actual memories?

Gods... where we lovers?

I bring up my hand to my lips, staring in shock at Ravus.

"Because of those memories, I started my research to find out the truth about the mysteries of Accoris. Little by little I was able to piece the puzzle to its original form over the years. It's only after I successfully retrieved some of your own past life memories recently, that I woke up fully to my real purpose. Finally I had all the answers and the truth was indeed life changing to me."

"What truth?" I ask impatiently when I see him hesitate to go on.

"What you must know, Noctis, in our previous lives, I have been your master to introduce and initiate you into the world of sexual pleasures. It's been my duty to make sure you learned to lead a sexual healthy life, to awaken your powers and to help provide your etheric body with as much life force as possible to help you grow into your full potential. Our bond was so strong that our relationship lasted almost ten years. It was unusual for a bond between a master and his pupil to grow and to last that long without any of us dedicating our lives to a proper partner for life. What we had experienced was truly special. The people of Accoris looked up to us and envied the level of trust you and I had shared between another continuously for so many years."

I can hear my own blood rushing through my veins when he confirms my suspicions.

I feel like fainting now.

So this is it. That's the reason why I continue to feel attracted to Ravus.

Heaven, master and pupil, whatever this means, in my eyes he and I were lovers for almost ten years!

Did he awaken my powers, and did teach me to control them in the past, in the same way as Prom did two days ago?

I'm speechless.

I suddenly need to bring some space between us, so I stand up to step back. Raking my hand through my wet hair in agitation, I remember how Prom measured thrusts have pleasured me on that night, alone the memory of the mind-blowing orgasms that I experienced make my knees grow weak again.

To imagine that Ravus had been the one to do the same to me in the far past... hell, the currents of pleasure that run through my body right now, as the tendrils of my powers frolic around my body in recognition of the truth he just revealed to me, tells me everything that I need to know about myself.

I hide my red face with my hands, trying to keep a tight grip on my emotions. Indeed, I must have clearly enjoyed the time I spent at Ravus' side. It's clear that such a harmonious relationship, which lasted almost ten years, would be enough time for both of us to get to know each other inside and out.

We must have trusted each other quite a lot to make something that private and intimate work for so long...

Eos... it seems Ravus has always been an imperative part to my own personal growth.

As I glance back at him, I already know that I can't escape him. I never could, never wanted to.

"Noctis, the crux to my tale, and I can only hope that one day you are able to forgive me my failure, is that in this incarnation I had been charged by the divine with the same mission as in the far past. Because of the high level of trust and compatibility of our spirits, before you were born you chose me to be once again your master. Hence, it should have been me, from the moment you had reached your sixteenth birthday, to help awaken your powers and to guide you to become the greatest, wisest and most powerful King the world has ever seen."

I... I don't know what to say right now.

All my emotions are actually blown away by everything.

It feels like my eyes were finally opened, and I'm incredibly relieved to finally understand the true source of my attraction toward him...

But I don't even have time to come in terms with everything he told me, because Ravus' next words are even more shocking.

"Noctis, I am the sole reason why your father had sent Cor to give his allegiance to Niflheim. Cor came to me with the purpose to offer to me your past life memories and in turn I promised to keep you alive. Your ancient memories hold all the answers that your father had been looking for. Before King Regis died, he somehow learned the truths of ancient Accoris, and because of that, he somehow became aware that I was once involved with your past life and thus involved intimately with the core of your powers. Your father had been searching in secret for a cure for your sickness. To get rid of the blockage that held you back from expressing your full range of magic, Cor and I had to shut down your powers completely, for they would have killed you from your inability to rest your body fully at night. The true objective was for me to talk to you and to get your consent to awaken your powers through a sacred bond between master and pupil once again. This would have been the only way for you to continue to live on with your powers intact and fully developed to fulfill your divine mission."

I stare at him wide-eyed, completely taken aback by my fathers actions.

I didn't have a clue about any of this!

"You mean to tell me, that the alien powers inside of me could have killed me, and that my father did hide this from me the entire time?! Hell... why didn't he say anything? Why did he keep something so important to himself? I can't help but feel betrayed and abandoned once again..." I look down at my hands, the nails digging into my skin as I form them to fists, my anger and disappointment growing.

Ravus leans forward to grasp my arm, pulling me to sit down again. He strokes my back to calm me as he says softly, "Noctis, there were good reasons why your father had to keep all these things secret, even from his own, beloved son. There were forces of evil who watched him very closely, day and night, they monitored every step he took toward raising you to become his heir. You are but a mere mortal in those evil entities eyes, a mere human being who bears the potential to be the one responsible for their demise one day. It's understandable that your father had to thread very carefully around everyone, but sadly, in the end he wasn't careful enough. As you know by now, Iedolas has his eyes and ears everywhere at once. He has connections to those higher beings, to those evil entities who can wield diabolical powers which none of us living here would ever be able to comprehend. You have to take this seriously and stop blaming everyone and everything for keeping secrets. The world as we know it is ending, on the verge of chaos, you have no time to wallow in self-pity."

I feel tears of frustration blurry my vision when Ravus places his hand under my chin so that I can meet his eyes again.

"Noctis, that's why Cor and I had to keep everything we knew to ourselves. It's important for you to grasp the reality, that we all did keep secrets from you not to spite you, but for your own protection, to keep you safe. You are the chosen one, the Deities who once lived on this planet have bestowed your spirit with the means to heal this world from evil. You are the only one with the means to save all of us from being erased by the forces who created this physical reality in the first place."

A distressed noise comes out of my throat. "Of course I know it's foolish of me to feel and think like I do now, and yet I'm crestfallen that people whom I trusted the most continue to keep such important facts from me. This isn't protection! Look at what happened to my father! Look at what happened to all of us! All of this could have been prevented if everyone would have been honest with me from the start!"

Fresh tears drop down on my cheeks and I turn my head away to squeeze my eyes shut in despair. I'm aware that none of this is truly their fault. But damn it all, I feel helpless! I'm mad at myself for having been weak and blind to all these dangerous situations around me and allowing so many people to get hurt and die in the process!

I'm not even one step closer to reclaim the lands of Lucis back, nor to avenge my father!

Isn't this truly pathetic?

The burden everyone placed on my shoulders feels too heavy by now to bear it all alone...

"I'm scared that I won't meet everyone's high expectations," I whisper, escaping Ravus' grasp to hug myself as I stare completely lost ahead of me into the night.

Ravus stays silent, observing me for awhile, but then I feel him hesitating before he speaks again, "Don't doubt in yourself. It's all because of me. I have failed you. You had to struggle and suffer so much because I couldn't be there for you, I wasn't able to guide you when you needed my help the most..."

I shake my head, wiping the tears away with trembling hands. "No, I understand now. Aldercapt made sure that you and I would never meet under good terms. A healthy relationship between us was ruled out from the start. The dislike and antagonism we felt for each other separated us early in life. None of it was your fault."

"Noctis..."

"It's funny when I really think about it." A hollow laugh follows as I struggle to get the next words out. New tears continue to sting my eyes, this is something that I didn't share with Prom, and yet I find myself sharing these absurd thoughts about myself with Ravus instead. "Everyone expects miracles and noble deeds of me, and yet I wonder, who would have been the _chosen one __if I would refuse to meet those expectations_? What turn would have had this world taken if I hadn't been born into this place? Would my father still be alive? Would everyone in Lucis live happily ever after? I imagine that Prom would have lived a normal life, grown up with you and all of his family intact. You see? So it must be me, right? I _am_ at fault, my simple existence in this world is a mistake. Just think about it, without me-"

A low growl is my only warning, before all of sudden, my next words get swallowed by Ravus' lips which desperately intertwine with mine, and I can only moan huskily into his mouth in a mixture of shock and arousal. His firm grip feels relentless on my chin as he angles my head to the side to deepen the almost bruising connection of the searing open mouthed kisses that follow immediately after.

Gods, his tongue is just as skilled, just as erotic and unforgiving as his brother's had been two days ago, and if I wouldn't know it any better, I would say that Ravus might have been Prom's teacher in the past instead of mine.

My heart and groin are throbbing, my powers flare up to burn me deliciously from the inside and I feel the tendrils reaching immediately out to fuse with Ravus' familiar life force. We both groan out as the ecstasy between us intensifies, the fiery kisses multiplying by the minute, but then sudden images, no, rather ancient memories appear one after another inside my mind. Various vivid memories of Ravus and I, teaching me how to pleasure a man, take my breath completely away and make me gasp out loud for air as I clutch at his strong shoulders for my dear life.

But before I can make any sense out of what I had just witnessed, the bruising kisses are already over.

Ravus lets go of my chin as if he had been burned, and I feel him resume his former posture as he increases the distance between us to sever the connection of the tendrils still intertwined with his life force. I can hear him inhaling and exhaling sharply in fierce arousal, the distance between each other not wide enough for him to keep a clear head, and when I open my red eyes, I can see his obvious restraint on himself as his jaw clenches in an attempt to calm his voracious desire. His shaky, tight fists are held by his side and his muscles drawn taut and tense, his body shivering despite the water surrounding us being almost too hot for our skin.

What... what did I see just now? Were this his memories of our past selves making love?

My lips still tingle and burn in delight from the consuming kisses Ravus and I just shared, and I can only sit there in a daze, the erotic images which his memories delivered to me now vivid and clear.

No wonder it had felt so natural to pleasure Prom the first time he and I touched on that night at the Coernix station. I didn't accumulate any sexual experiences in this life before making love to Prom, and yet I unconsciously knew what to do, I knew what would feel good for both of us beyond mere instinct. Strangely, not even once did I stop to question where exactly this sudden insight and knowledge came from...

Now I know.

Ravus was the one to teach me all these maddening, delightful sexual acts... if I still had a sliver of doubt of what Ravus had previously told me, his memories in which my powers just tapped into are most definitely hammering the truth back home.

I'm completely overwhelmed. Barely able to wrap my mind around all this.

I can only stare at Ravus' immensely handsome face, drinking in his features as he gazes hungrily at me while simultaneously trying his best to resist me.

I still can't get over the fact that he looks so eerily similar to Chronus, which doesn't really help to cool off my attraction toward him one bit.

Hell, does Prom know about this? Does he know that his brother and I were once lovers in the far past? Is this why he behaved so peculiar and strung up all morning?

My hands come up to rub over my flushed cheeks with my hands.

"I...," I start, but swallow dryly instead of continuing, searching for proper words to describe my feelings but finding nothing appropriate to express myself.

Ravus' breathless sounding voice reaches my ears, "Noctis, when you met my brother for the first time after he came back from his long journey, I was the one who decided to end our relationship. It was a love at first sight that reigned absolute in your heart. Chronos was your entire world. I recognized the divine bond between the two of you and there was no other way but for me but to let go," he pauses, avoiding my eyes. A trait of his which tells me that he's not completely honest with me.

"But...?" I confront him to tell me the truth.

"But... I didn't count on myself to have fallen madly in love with you, Noctis. To let go of everything we had, it was very painful. It still is," he reluctantly admits to me, his voice husky.

Eos... why? Why didn't he told me earlier? All this time I thought it was a simple crush, I thought it was only lust that made him follow me around all these years. That's why I never took his desires seriously.

It's because of Prom that I learned what true love feels like. If Ravus' emotions are of the same scale of intensity as mine are toward Prom, then I don't think my heart can take it to let him suffer a one-sided love again. Nobody deserves such a cruel fate. For him to fully remember all those years we've spent together so vividly, I can't possibly imagine how hard it would be for him to live on with this knowledge, live after live, nor how heartbroken he would be because of it...

"Ravus...," I whisper his name in surprise when I feel his restraint vanish. His hands pull me yet again to get close to him, his thumb coming back to trace burning trails over my lower lip.

"I had the privilege to kiss those lush looking lips of yours countless times in the past, I now remember every single one of them, each one as precious and important to me as the one we just shared tonight. What surprised me at that time was, that it was my brother who suggested to include me into your relationship. But I had to decline the request for obvious reasons. You two are soulmates. You have no idea how hard it was to resist you. Our bond made me look for you in every reincarnation. I have never taken another pupil nor another lover to my bed. You were my first, and you will be my last. Even in this life my spirit has longed too strongly for you," he pauses for a moment to push my lips apart and to stroke over my tingling skin of my mouth with his thumb erotically.

Eos help me... if he doesn't stop this, I fear to succumb to my own desires to kiss him again.

"Your beautiful lips... they couldn't make me forget their feel, nor their exquisite taste, no matter how often _they_ forced my soul into crude flesh to function in this world...," he murmurs forlorn, bringing his face closer to me, our noses touching as his beautiful eyes become half-lidded with yearning, "Noctis, all this time I've been haunted in my dreams by your pure heart, by your immense beauty, by your incredibly sensual pleads to bring you higher, to get you to that place where time and space cease to exist..."

"Gods... Ravus, I want to remember everything we had..." At this moment my heart is so heavily touched by his honest feelings, by his love and raw desire for me, that I find myself unconsciously leaning forward to meet his open-mouthed kiss as soon as our lips brush another again.

My past identity, Atlas, who lives on in my heart, feels so strongly attracted toward Ravus that I can't even begin to explain to myself.

The kisses that follow are madness in itself, imbued with a passion and familiarity almost as old as time itself. His arms embrace me tightly, pulling my body down to sit on his lap and I throw my head back with a rapturous moan when his hands find all my erogenous spots immediately. His open-mouthed kisses over my wet skin make my powers flare up viciously and the connected tendrils fuse merge now completely with his life force. My desire for him and my heart beats increase when all ancient memories, of Ravus and I making love countless times, resurface into my conscious mind all at once.

"Ravus...! Ahnn!" Alone from the overflowing memories can I tell how much Atlas yearned for his touch...

Ravus' lips are devouring me, his tongue ravishing me, those long, slender fingers touching me in ways that make me absolutely heady and just like that he simply destroys my ability to think clearly, his strong emotions, his memories of our past selves making love to each other are seeping all at once into the forefront of my overwhelmed mind and I can only moan keenly when I reach a violent climax and the past and the present suddenly merge into one.

Everything comes to a sudden halt when Ravus embraces me fiercely, his body taut and tense, forcing himself to stay calm and obviously denying himself his own release.

"Noctis, forgive me, my soul was too weak to resist you...," he whispers in agony, "please, let go of me..."

I gaze into the darkness with half-lidded eyes, panting harshly from the strong arousal still cruising through my body. The tendrils of my powers cling on his vital life force, enticing him, arousing him, searching for ways to make him resume what he started. When he still doesn't move an inch, my hands grasp his face so that I can catch his lips into another breath taking tongue-kiss, but instead I feel his hands letting me go, all of a sudden pushing me back to make room for him to stand up.

"Forgive me...," he apologizes again full of despair, "This is as far as I am allowed to touch you. Your powers have been already fully activated, you don't require my assistance anymore."

I need a few moments to clear my head from the strong arousal wreaking havoc within my body and mind, still trying to make sense out of all the past memories that I now can clearly remember.

"Ravus, wait," I call after him.

I watch him disappear inside the cave while my broken heart still beats furiously from his burning touches and breathtaking kisses, the powers inside me still pumping and being excited in the same way, with the same intensity, as only Prom has been able to arouse them.

I can't say for how long I stared into the distance, the darkness outside complementing the absolute chaos reigning over my emotions. When my arousal cooled off, I could feel nothing at all, my heart seemingly empty.

I didn't care that my skin turned all wrinkly and pruney in the water.

All that I cared about was the conclusion of tonight's events that haunted my mind.

It's not until Prom silently joins me, complete understanding reflecting inside his beautiful, sad eyes, when his arms embrace me lovingly without prejudice about what I've done, that I figure out all on my own something important.

Ravus deliberately left out one little detail. Something that I now find out myself, not only because of the past life memories I just remembered, but because of Prom's understanding and compassion toward his brother and myself.

A long time ago, the future King of Accoris had been in love with two remarkably strong, wise and gorgeous looking Deities. But as a mortal being, he was not allowed to consort with both.

Fate made him choose one over another, and now the same devastating knowledge, of having forsaken a loved one, is in the process to tear his soul apart all over again.

As it once happened far back in Accoris, Chronus' warm lips brush against Atlas' forehead in soothing motions, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, holding him tightly and healing his hurt soul with his strong, unconditional love and radiant presence.

It's only then that I, my identity as Noctis, finally allow myself to break down in Prom's arms and cry.

In the end, Ravus still managed to teach me a painful but valuable lesson tonight.

That in order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost.

**…**

To be Continued.


End file.
